Revolutionary ‘Air Bag’ for Football Knee Injuries and China’s Interest

A new frontier or mad science? One doctornMail Sport consulted prefers to frame it as a possible step closer to the discovery of the ‘holy grail’ in the prevention of serious injury.

The object of the discussion is a piece of technology that is so arresting in its concept that it has drawn intrigue from Chinese Olympic circles to the Premier League and the elite end of US college sports.

It might also attract some scepticism.

The device – created by 20-year-old London-based inventors Kylin Shaw and Bhavy Metakar, founders of the company Hippos Exoskeleton – is a knee brace that uses Artificial Intelligence to detect when the joint is approaching breaking point before deploying an airbag quicker than the time it takes a ligament to rupture.

To the persistent threat of knee cruciate tears, like the one Manchester City’s Rodri is suspected to have suffered on Sunday, Shaw and Metakar say their design is capable of stopping 80 per cent of such injuries from occurring.

The brace device uses Artificial Intelligence to detect when a joint is nearing breaking point

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10 Premier League players suffered knee ligament tears last season, which strike with greater prevalence in the women’s game.

It is a striking claim that will raise eyebrows. But it is one that has generated curiosity within the sporting sector as the idea moves through its testing phase.

Crystal Palace were sufficiently interested to trial a prototype within their academy during the summer and, according to Shaw, he has already received a large pre-order from the Chinese Olympic Association.

The medical lead at UK Athletics, Dr James Brown, who has discussed the research with Shaw, described the prospect to Mail Sport as a potential ‘game-changer’.

‘We believe this can revolutionise the space in how knee injuries are prevented,’ Shaw tells Mail Sport, with an aim to introduce the device to elite sporting competition within two years.

The design centres on a pair of sensors placed at the top and bottom of a 107-gram brace, each tracking the movement patterns of the upper and lower leg.

‘They form a sensor network,’ Shaw explains. ‘A flexible PCB (printed circuit board, located on the knee cap) will use AI to learn thousands of the movements that your knee is conducting and will recognise anything outside of your normal pattern, after landing from a jump, for example.

The investors claim the design is capable of stopping 80 per cent of knee cruciate tears

Lisandro Martinez was one of 10 Premier League players to suffer a knee ligament tear last year

‘It can confirm if the hyper extension or rotation is serious enough to cause an injury and that will trigger a danger signal.’

If that occurs, the airbag is designed to inflate within 25 milliseconds via a micro gas canister to surround and stabilise the knee, thereby stopping hyperextension or over-rotation.

Theoretically, a season-ending injury would be prevented.

Shaw adds: ‘Research shows it typically takes 60 milliseconds for an ACL to tear and the airbag tightens after 20 to 25 milliseconds, protecting the knee. It then deflates almost instantaneously, so your knee is not frozen in place and you carry on playing. Our technology is reusable because the cannister is changed like you change a battery.’

The risks of an accidental discharge are tempting to imagine, which Shaw counters by claiming only six malfunctions occurred in more than 4,000 tests, featuring trials with professional athletes, including the American world champion skier Alex Schlopy.

It remains to be seen if it would be deemed compliant in some sports. Under Section 4 of the International Football Association Board’s laws, the details are vague: ‘Non-dangerous protective equipment, for example gloves, headgear, facemasks and knee and arm protectors made of soft, lightweight padded material are permitted.’

With letters of intent secured from within Spanish La Liga basketball and the NCAA US college system, as well as China, Shaw and Metakar have a patent application pending in the United States.

Broader interest is evidently spreading, which encompasses Dr James Brown, who has worked in high-performance sport for three decades across rugby, Yorkshire Cricket, British Triathlon and now UK Athletics.

‘If the product can match its premise this would represent a significant leap forward in protecting athletes,’ he says.

‘We are currently at a time when a lot of energy and resource goes into predicting when an athlete is at risk, but prevention is the holy grail and the hardest aspect to attain.

‘From what I’ve seen in the early stages this could be a game-changer if its reliability and compliance can be proved through the testing they are currently undertaking. It’s exciting.’