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December 1, 2022Q-collar®
The Q-collar is used by athletes and the military to reduce the adverse outcome of concussions secondary to head impact trauma...
Q30 Innovations® - Q-Collar® The only equipment proven to help protect the brain.
The Q-Collar is the first and only FDA-approved collar. Q30 Innovations (Q30 Sports Science, LLC, Westport, CT, USA) is a research and development company dedicated to developing innovative products to reduce traumatic brain injury caused by concussive forces in athletes, combatants, and workers. (1)
About device name
In February 2021, the FDA authorized the Q-Collar as a safe and effective device intended to be worn around the neck of athletes aged 13 years and older during sports activities to aid in the protection of the brain from effects associated with repetitive sub-concussive head impacts. Today, it is used by athletes and also military personnel in the United States and Canada. This collar was designed for any sport or physical activity where a person is at risk of exposure to head impacts. It has been allowed to be used in numerous sports leagues and organizations. (1)
The jugular compression collar (Q-collar) works by eliciting an increase in sympathetic activity and blood pressure due to the reduced transmural pressure across the carotid artery, thereby increasing cerebral blood flow and intracranial venous volume. It has been proposed that these mechanisms are how the Q-collar reduces the white matter alterations associated with head impacts. (2)
Advantages and disadvantages
A recent study by Joshi et al., 2019, showed that the Q-collar increased the jugular vein cross-sectional area without affecting the carotid artery cross-sectional area in both men and women during Valsalva. This effect was more prominent in women, with greater adrenergic control of blood pressure and increased resting brain blood flow velocity leading to a smaller increase in blood flow velocity. (2)
Another study by Nardone et al., 2020, evaluated the effect of neck compression collars on cardiorespiratory and cerebrovascular function in postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). Their findings indicate that the collar alters respiratory autonomic reflexes by affecting carotid baroreceptors, resulting in increased brain blood volume and cerebral microvascular flow as well as an improvement in orthostatic symptoms.(3) More research is still needed, but for now, its applications are only approved for athletes and military personnel.