Hearable System for Impact and Blast

In addition to providing hearing protection and communications, earplugs provide an attractive platform for measuring head response to impact and blast events. Sensors embedded in deep-insert earplugs can accurately measure head kinematics due to their close coupling to the skull in the bony region of the ear canal. However, this region is extremely sensitive, and the stiff earplug material required to fix an accelerometer in place would be intolerable. Paxauris has innovated a comfortable deep-insert earplug that is easily fitted and removed. It is reusable, cost-effective, and may be instrumented with miniature high-bandwidth accelerometers and gyroscopes to accurately measure head response. In this project we will develop a hearable system for monitoring impact and blast that is based on our innovative earplug technology. We will demonstrate the feasibility of our concept by prototyping an instrumented version of our earplug and testing it in an impact test facility and in a shock tube. In Phase II we will mature our hearable system and proceed through laboratory tests to field tests. At the end of Phase II, we will deliver production-ready prototypes to the Army. In Phase III we will transition our system to a hearable product ready for acquisition and sales.

View award information at https://www.sbir.gov/node/2173571