Second scalp cycle steel sheet adds new turn to preventing head injuries

A NEW reserve steel sheet that could save the lives of scores of cyclists each year has been grown by a former GP. The steel sheet is lonesome by a insubordinate polymer "membrane" and wafer-thin covering of liniment that protects the head from injuries caused by being disfigured in a crash. Its surface acts identical to a second scalp, that of course moves over the skull when itADVERTISEMENT receives a blow, so shortening the risk of "rotational" head trauma.Conventional helmets are stoical of a covering of shock-absorbing element and rely on deformation of the bombard to revoke the stroke of any blow. But they do not ensure opposite the rotational injuries inside the skull, that means potentially deadly ripping of red blood vessels and nerves in the brain, mostly in the initial fifteen milliseconds after an stroke when a steel sheet can punch in to a highway surface, causing rotation.Tests have shown that, by shifting on the bombard of the steel sheet on impact, the SuperSkin covering cuts rotational damage by 67 per cent.The new pattern has emerged as annual census data show an enlarge in the series of cyclists killed or severely harmed on British roads. There were 2,680 such casualties in between Jun 2008 and Jun 2009, a 4 per cent climb on the prior years figure of 2,575. About 100 cyclists die each year, with 80 per cent pang head injuries.British contriver Dr Ken Phillips estimates that his "anti-rotation" helmet, that has taken fifteen years and �1 million to rise with the assistance of supervision grants, will cut dramatically the fee of genocide and damage caused by blows to the head.The former alloy began work on the pattern after deliberating head injuries with his son, a penetrating motorcyclist. He said: "The "eureka" impulse came when I realised the scalp slides over the outward of the skull."Phillips is formulation identical helmets for equine riders, skiers and American footballers.