Panthers LB Luke Kuechly during yesterday's game against the 49ers wore a "thin band that circles around the back of his neck" called a Q Collar that "just might save his brain," according to Jourdan Rodrigue of the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER. Kuechly during the preseason became the "first NFL player to wear this device." He did not offer many details on the Q Collar, simply confirming that he "has been wearing the experimental collar and will continue to do so." The Q Collar, co-invented by Dr. David Smith a "little over five years ago and developed by Connecticut-based sports science company Q-30 Innovations," intends to prevent the brain hitting the inside of the skull on impact by "limiting the space within the skull that the brain has to move, and in turn protect the brain from damage." The Q Collar is "still largely in its research phase, and has not yet been approved by the FDA for sale" in the U.S. However, it can be used in "approved situations." The inspiration for the Q Collar "was drawn from the physiology of a woodpecker, which beats its head against a tree trunk several thousand times per day but does not suffer brain damage" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 9/10).
