Wednesday 6 January 2010

New Helmet Technology


It's not often that something 'new' comes along in the world of helmets.

Usually any 'innovations' are really just tweaks to materials (carbon fibre rather than fibreglass) or finish (scratch resistant ocatings on visors).

For some manufacturers a new colour scheme based on the helmet worn by a famous racer is reason enough to launch a publicity campaign.

Even something like Pin-Lock visors are really only a minor add-on - albeit a good one!

So I was interested to read about ThermaHelm.

What makes this so different? Well, simply (and in my layman's terms), it starts 'treatment' for head injury as soon as a rider has a crash!

However, they say:

ThermaHelm™ is a revolutionary brain cooling helmet technology that could save your life. Riding without ThermaHelm™ technology is like driving without an airbag.

Head injuries occur in 80% of all motorcyclist fatalities. A key factor in these injuries is brain swelling inside the helmet and the response time to address the issue. ThermaHelm™ technology helps to mitigate this problem by cooling the rider's head post-accident.

A standard helmet acts like an insulator. The polystyrene foam found in ALL motorcycle helmets is the same white foam that in installed in the walls of ALL refrigerators and portable coolers. It's the perfect energy absorber...and insulator. The helmet acts like an oven to an already hot, sweaty head causing post accident brain temperatures to potentially reach a fatal threshold. This is how motorcycle riders can die.

ThermaHelm™ technology works by triggering an endothermic chemical reaction inside the helmet lining at the moment of impact. The helmet immediately cools the motorcyclists head, keeping it cold even before the emergency services could have been called.


More info, news stories, videos and images on their web site: http://www.thermahelm.com/

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1 comment:

Unknown said...

Sorry, but this made me think of the cartoon Futurama and the heads in cryo storage. Sorry again.