Date of Award

12-2016

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering (MSECE)

Department

Electrical and Computer Engineering

First Advisor

Thomas M. Talavage

Committee Chair

Thomas M. Talavage

Committee Member 1

David J. Love

Committee Member 2

Eric A. Nauman

Abstract

Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) while playing sports are a major concern for the general public today. Recently, studies have shown that repetitive subconcussive hits can lead to neurological disorders. In order to prevent the athletes from suffering traumatic brain injuries, many organizations related to contact based sports and the military employ commercialized head impact telemetry systems. However, a majority of the commercialized systems is event based which only collects the linear acceleration that exceeds a certain threshold. To accurately record and utilize the data from the impact telemetry system, it is necessary to record all the linear and angular acceleration over time to analyze the relationship between the two data sets. Thus, the Purdue Neurotrauma Group (PNG) members have developed a biomechanical telemetry system for collecting continual data from the accelerometer and gyroscope. PNG’s system is not only capable of storing and monitoring events that exceed a certain threshold, but also capable of storing real-time data that may not meet a given threshold.

This study is focused on improving the hardware platform of the existing PNG’s telemetry systems. The objective of this study is to develop a small and low power operational biomechanical telemetry system. Limitations of the current project are discussed, along with possible future developments for the current system.

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