Help protect against head injury by reducing brain movement.

The Q-Collar is the first and only [tooltip label="FDA-cleared" static="true"]
In February 2021, the FDA authorized (or “cleared”) 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. You can read more about the FDA’s authorization of the Q-Collar. Read more
[/tooltip] solution that helps protect the brain during repetitive head impacts.

Because the brain floats inside the skull, it moves – sometimes with great force – when the head is exposed to an impact. By applying light pressure to the sides of the neck, the Q-Collar increases blood volume in the brain’s venous structures, reducing the harmful internal movement that causes brain injury.

The Q-Collar is a noninvasive solution to brain protection, and there have been no negative effects reported relating to wearing it. It may even help you perform at your optimum.*

How We Did It

The inventors of the Q-Collar and Q30 Innovations–with a team of leaders in sports medicine and biomedical engineering–took a fresh look at brain protection by designing an innovative solution that relies on the body’s physiology to provide protection for the brain from within.

Initial research revealed that jugular vein compression can reduce damage to brain neurons and axons (key indicators of brain injury) by over 80%.

Years of laboratory and clinical testing revealed that jugular vein compression can protect the brain in a way no external protection could.

An Added Layer of Protection

Helmets can reduce serious injury to the skull by preventing direct contact and spreading the force of impact over a greater surface area. But they can’t limit brain movement. The Q-Collar helps protect the brain from within, focusing on the source of serious head injuries: the brain.

When the head absorbs a hit, the brain bounces back and forth against the inside of the skull. This rapid acceleration and deceleration of the brain – a phenomenon known as [tooltip label="brain slosh"]
<strong>What is brain slosh?</strong>The movement of the brain inside the skull
[/tooltip] – stretches and tears brain fibers, resulting in [tooltip label="Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)"]
A Traumatic Brain Injury, or TBI, is an injury that affects how the brain works. It could be caused by one or several blows, bumps or impacts to the head.
[/tooltip].

A Decade of Research

Leading research institutions conducted over 28 independent laboratory, clinical and wearability studies involving Olympic, professional, youth athletes, and SWAT personnel over the last ten years to evaluate the Q-Collar's effectiveness.

Jugular compression reduced damage to brain neurons and axons (key indicators of brain injury) by 83%.

Pre-Clinical Study

There is no statistical risk to the body from wearing the collar (Human Performance Study) and no interference with performance, movement, and endurance. (In some cases, wearing the collar actually enhances performance.)

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Wearing the Q-Collar resulted in no significant changes in white matter in 77% of athletes wearing the collar, while significant changes in white matter were found in 73% of athletes not wearing the collar.

See The Study

Wearing the Q-Collar may reduce the risk and severity of traumatic brain injury (including reduced risk of hearing loss*) from blast waves*, in addition to collisions.

Read the Studies
Learn more about the research findings and clinical trials.
Read the Research
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*These uses have not been evaluated or cleared by the FDA. Further research is necessary to determine whether the Q-Collar can provide these benefits to users.

Help protect your future on and off the field.

Damage from brain slosh can be catastrophic when it occurs on a large scale, but research shows that it is also quite harmful on a small scale–especially in the long term.

Damage from these smaller events, called repetitive sub-concussive impacts, accumulates over time. Repeated impacts caused by headers, jostling, and collisions may alter the [tooltip label="white matter"]
<strong>What is white matter?</strong>
Deeper tissues of the brain
[/tooltip], or deep tissue, of the brain, posing long-term health risks including decreased mental acuity, [tooltip label="chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)"]
A brain disease that can only be diagnosed after death. It has been linked to specific changes in the brain that affect how the brain works
[/tooltip], dementia, and Alzheimer’s.

Did you know?

College football players experience an estimated 950-1,350 repetitive, sub-concussive head impacts per season.

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Even youth football players (who constitute about 70% of all football players) absorb an average of 3.7 head impacts per game and 1.5 impacts per practice.

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From 2000 to 2020, more than 430,000 U.S. service members have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries (which are typically the result of head impacts and blast waves).

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With the exception of football, female soccer players experience the highest rate of concussions out of any other athletes.

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“The science behind the Q-Collar is
mind-boggling in its simplicity. The data behind the Q-Collar is really compelling. There is no real question anymore – the athletes that are making this a part of their protective gear are more protected.”

Dr. Wayne Olan

Director of Interventional and Endovascular Neurosurgery, George Washington University