Abstract
Sports face guards (FGs) are devices that protect athletes from maxillofacial injury or ensure rapid return to play following orofacial damage. Conventional FGs are uncomfortable to wear owing to stuffiness caused by poor ventilation and often slip off due to increase in weight due to absorption of moisture from perspiration, lowering players’ performance. Herein, combinations of 3D-printed perforated acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) polymer sheets and 3D-knitted fabrics with honeycomb structures as cushioning materials were investigated to balance better wearing feel and mechanical properties. The flexural strength, weight, and shock absorption ability of, and air flow rate through, the ABS sheets with five different perforation patterns were evaluated and compared with those of conventional FG materials comprising a combination of polycaprolactone sheets for the medical splint and polychloroprene rubber for the cushioning material. The ABS sheets having 10% open area and 2.52 mm round holes, combined with knitted fabric cushioning, exhibited the requisite shock absorbing, higher air permeability, and lower weight properties than the conventional materials. Our results suggest that FGs fabricated using combinations of 3D-printed perforated ABS polymer sheets and 3D-knitted fabrics with honeycomb structures may impart enhanced wearing comfort for athletes.
Highlights
In this study, we examined the suitability of 3D-knitted fabrics for use as cushioning materials in face guards (FGs)
NEO as the cushioning material were lower than those of the ABS10 (3.64 mm rounded holes) and ABS20 (3.57 mm rounded holes) specimens. These results suggest that smaller holes in the specimens resulted in a greater shock absorption ability
In this study, perforated and nonperforated 3D-printed acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) materials were combined with AKE as a cushioning material; these were compared with the conventional core material, AP combined with NEO as the cushioning material
Summary
Face guards (FGs) are widely recognized as being effective in protecting the maxillofacial region during sports [1,2,3,4]. FGs can ensure the safety of athletes by minimizing maxillofacial injuries and protecting existing ones [2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12]. All FGs must meet the following requirements: (i) protect the player from reinjury (protective ability), (ii) not injure other players (safety), and (iii) allow the player to have a good field of vision (not hinder player performance) [5]. According to the “Laws of the Game” laid down by the International
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