Integrating mouthguard kinematics, finite element brain strain, and plasma biomarkers to explore brain injury thresholds in collision sport

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Abstract Purpose Identifying head impacts linked to brain injury in sport remains challenging. Instrumented mouthguards quantify head-impact kinematics, and finite element (FE) modelling can transform these data into brain strain estimates, which may better reflect injury risk than kinematics alone. Here, we examined associations between mouthguard-measured kinematics, FE-derived strain, and plasma brain injury biomarker GFAP following head impacts. Methods We analysed 41 video-verified impacts from male Australian football players, including 22 assessed for concussion (17 diagnosed) and 19 unassessed. Instrumented mouthguards recorded peak linear acceleration (PLA), peak rotational acceleration, and peak rotational velocity (PRV). Brain strain was estimated using the Imperial College FE brain model, and plasma GFAP was quantified using Simoa. Biomechanical-GFAP associations were examined using Spearman correlations and segmented regression. Results For impacts overall, plasma GFAP was moderately correlated with PLA (ρ=0.46, 95% CI: 0.20–0.66), PRV (ρ=0.53, 95% CI: 0.20–0.78), and strain (ρ=0.60, 95% CI: 0.32–0.80). Associations were stronger within concussion cases for strain (ρ=0.86, 95% CI: 0.58–0.97) and PRV (ρ=0.64, 95% CI: 0.15–0.93). Piecewise regression identified strain levels above which strain-GFAP relationships steepened across the whole-brain and brainstem. In concussion cases, supra-threshold brainstem strain was associated with greater symptoms. Conclusion Finite element brain strain may better predict brain injury risk following a sport-related head impact than peak acceleration metrics. Stronger associations with plasma GFAP, particularly among concussion cases, and evidence of a biomechanical threshold, support the use of biomarker-informed strain measures in future risk modelling and the development of brain injury screening thresholds.

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