Canada-based protective athletic gear manufacturer Kapsul Tech has introduced the Kapsul Atlas, a lightweight and flexible shirt with a protective collar designed to support athletes’ necks without compromising their performance. Kapsul Atlas fills the gap in protective gear between the torso and head with technology built on research into neck biomechanics.

Kapsul’s built-in dynamic neck stabilisation technology provides neck support and stabilisation without impacting an athlete’s range of motion or mobility by dissipating forces during play to help mitigate the risk of injury, pain, or strain. The neck plays a critical role in athletic performance and Kapsul’s proprietary technology is built on years of research with athletes of all ages and skill levels in multiple sports, the company said in a press release.

While neck support and protection are crucial for all athletes, Kapsul’s research also identified two groups that strongly benefit from additional protection—younger athletes whose muscles and bones are still developing and female athletes who typically have longer necks with lower muscle density.

Throughout their careers, athletes experience repetitive G forces that can cause force and fatigue damage to the muscles and tissues of the neck. The average G force of an airplane take-off is 0.4G—the average hit in football is 103 Gs. In addition to mitigating these forces, Kapsul Atlas can also reduce muscle fatigue and fatigue-related injuries, which empowers athletes to play and train longer.

Bringing the Kapsul Atlas to market required new testing methods since research on neck performance in sports lags behind other body parts. Kapsul conducted joint research with the Canadian Military and the University of Waterloo creating an FEM (Finite Element Model) using the Global Human Models Consortium (GHMC).

The GHMC is a clinically validated model that responds to forces in the same way the human body does. Unlike commonly used test dummies, this allows for an unprecedented level of detail, taking into consideration: soft tissue, skeletal structure, musculature, and fluids during imposed forces, added the release

“Kapsul Atlas is the culmination of years of innovation, design, and testing, with some of the world’s top athletes and government funded military research. Our team is excited to unveil this new model of protection and performance to the world of sports, power sports, safety, and service. The neck is the perfect starting point to demonstrate this new model that supports joints through a full range of motion without performance deficit,” said Daryl Sherman, CEO, Kapsul Tech.