Meru Ascent Carbon Brace Frontal Head Restraint with IDS innovation.

The first FHR to include concussion prevention.

In crash testing the Meru team has been able to make a nearly 80% reduction in forces through the head, taking several hundred pounds off the brain, and were able to do so without sacrificing neck safety.

The Ascent Carbon Brace works with Meru Safety’s patented shock absorber design.

In a frontal or reverse impact the inertia damping system (IDS) helps dampen the speed at which the head comes to a stop.

A shock absorber connects to the hinged back plate on the device which allows the back plate of the device to move back and forth slightly.

Speed sensitive valving detects large force impacts and stiffens to slow abrupt movements while maintaining comfort in normal driving conditions.

The Meru Carbon Ascent is made from aerospace grade carbon to achieve the lightest weight possible with the added hardware, and a tether system familiar to other FHR devices which allows the brace to control the head’s entire movement forward in an impact.

The Ascent Carbon Brace connects to any helmet with threaded mounting points and is available to use for anyone with a 5 or 6 point harness and is comfortable in a variety of different seating positions.

In a 70G impact the Ascent was able to reduce the force from the back of the head through the eyes to just 53lbs which is a major improvement in concussion prevention.

Hollow Carbon Fiber Collar with non-slip belt grips

Custom molded honeycomb infill padding with Nomex wrapped padding covers

Oversized for maximum protection

Honeycomb pattern allows pad to remain firm enough to maintain car-feel but enough give for comfort.

Magnetic Locating Helmet Anchors

Fire resistant Kevlar webbing sliding tether with magnetic blended Stainless steel helmet mounts

Hinged collar and headrest design with a hydraulic shock absorber

Fully customized CNC’d dampener with proprietary IDS technology featuring speed sensitive valving to maximize both safety and comfort.

Moving headrest allows for universal use in all seating positions.

Reduces the force through the head on the Z axis to 53G’s in a 70G impact.

Hundreds of pounds under the SFI upper neck tension threshold.

Works with all seating positions

Weighs about 2 pounds

All braces come with hardware including tethers, helmet mounts and carrying case

A CLIMB TOWARDS CONCUSSION PREVENTION.

IDS controls the head's entire movement forward in an impact

IDS slows down the stop in an impact

IDS reduces both linear and angular acceleration

IDS has speed sensitive valving to ensure both driver comfort and safety

IDS reduces both concussion causing forces and upper neck tension

IDS can withstand thousands of impacts

In a 70G impact IDS reduces the force through the head on the Z axis to 53G’s

AC-100, AC-200

ANGULAR ACCELERATION

The majority of auto racing accidents come from rotational energy which promotes angular acceleration. It has become rare to have a direct linear impact to the head. Bringing your head to a stop in an impact protects your neck. Slowing down how quickly the head is brought to your stop protects you brain. For the last 7 years Meru has been working on a way to do both of those things efficiently.

IDS technology immediately begins to slow the impact down, controlling the helmet's entire movement forward thereby reducing the transfer of angular acceleration forces to the head and brain.

LOW-THRESHOLD ENERGY

Recent medical research has provided alarming conclusions surrounding the causes, severity, and long-term effects of concussions. Even seemingly minor concussions can have much more serious long-term effects on the brain, especially when frequency is increased.

The current FHR’s focus is on limiting upper neck tension. Concussion prevention is left up to the helmet companies.

The vast majority of impacts one might experience in auto racing qualify as low-threshold energy impacts; impacts well below certification standards pass/fail velocities, but severe enough to sustain a concussion or a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Bumpy tracks, a big cushion in dirt cars, or a string of small crashes can do enough jarring to sustain a concussion or TBI without any obvious corresponding carnage. IDS starts working the instant an impact begins. The speed sensitive valving makes the technology more compliant and progressive over a broad range of impact velocities common in ‘real world’ racing while still exceeding the global standard pass/fail requirements.

HIGH-VELOCITY IMPACTS

Across the entire range of potential impact velocities, the Meru Ascent FHR with IDS technology focuses specifically on concussion prevention. Meru meticulously engineered the collar, headrest, hardware, guards, and IDS to provide the best possible impact mitigation performance across all impact velocities for both angular and linear accelerations.

In a 70G force impact at the CAPE Crash Testing Lab in Indianapolis, the Meru Ascent FHR with IDS reduced concussion causing forces through the head on the Z axis to just under 53G's. Meru was able to make those gains without giving up low-threshold energy protection or sacrificing neck safety.

TIME-TO-PEAK (TTP)

Time-to-Peak (TTP) is how long it takes the energy of an impact to reach maximum g-force. Deceleration time is the single most beneficial component in reducing the severity and magnitude of any impact — the more time, the less energy transferred.

Because of our proprietary IDS technology, our speed sensitive dampener progressively lowers the heads velocity and almost triples the time to peak, spreading already drastically reduced load, over almost double the time.

UPPER-NECK TENSION

Traditional FHR’s were designed to limit upper neck tension. At the time, auto racing's biggest problem was basal scull fracture. Caused by the whiplash motion in an impact, basal scull fracture often severed spinal cords leaving drivers dead on impact. Traditional FHR designs did wonders for limiting how far forward the helmet could travel in an impact, eliminating the finished whipping motion.

Both SFI and the FIA recognize upper neck tension as a key pass/fail metric for FHR performance in basal skull fracture prevention.

The goal of lowered upper neck tension was not lost on Meru. The Meru Ascent tested at 1600N, beats the established performance standard of 2500N from SFI by 36%.

Hollow Carbon Fiber Collar with non-slip belt grips

Custom molded honeycomb infill padding with Nomex wrapped padding covers

Oversized for maximum protection

Honeycomb pattern allows pad to remain firm enough to maintain car-feel but enough give for comfort.

Magnetic Locating Helmet Anchors

Fire resistant kevlar webbing sliding tether with magnetic blended Stainless steel helmet mounts

Hinged collar and headrest design with a hydraulic shock absorber

Fully customized CNC’d dampener with proprietary IDS technology featuring speed sensitive valving to maximize both safety and comfort.

Moving headrest allows for universal use in all seating positions.

Reduces the force through the head on the Z axis to 53G’s in a 70G impact.

Hundreds of lbs under the SFI upper neck tension threshold.

Works with all seating positions

Weighs about 2 pounds

All braces come with hardware including tethers, helmet mounts and carrying case

ANGULAR ACCELERATION

Meru’s revolutionary Inertia Dampening System(IDS) aims to change how Frontal Head Restraint(FHR) manufacturers will design their restraints moving forward and push safety organizations to rewrite their current safety standards. The old thought process of leaving concussion prevention to the helmets needs to change, and Meru wants to push concussion prevention to the forefront.

The forces to the head in the majority of auto racing accidents come from rotational energy which promotes angular acceleration. It has become rare to have a direct linear impact to the head. Brining your head to a stop in an impact protects your neck. Slowing down how quickly the head is brought to your stop protects you brain. For the last 7 years we have been working on a way to do both of those things efficiently.

IDS technology immediately begins to slow the impact down, controlling the helmet's entire movement forward thereby reducing the transfer of angular acceleration forces to the head and brain.

LOW-THRESHOLD ENERGY

Recent medical research has provided alarming conclusions surrounding the causes, severity, and long-term effects of concussions. Even seemingly minor concussions can have much more serious long-term effects on the brain, especially when frequency is increased.

The current FHR’s focus is on limiting upper neck tension. Concussion prevention is left up to the helmet companies.

The vast majority of impacts one might experience in auto racing qualify as low-threshold energy impacts; impacts well below certification standards pass/fail velocities, but severe enough to sustain a concussion or a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Bumpy tracks, a big cushion in dirt cars, or a string of small crashes can do enough jarring to sustain a concussion or TBI without any obvious corresponding carnage. IDS starts working the instant an impact begins. The speed sensitive valving makes the technology more compliant and progressive over a broad range of impact velocities common in ‘real world’ racing while still exceeding the global standard pass/fail requirements.

HIGH-VELOCITY IMPACTS

Across the entire range of potential impact velocities, the Meru Ascent FHR with IDS technology focuses specifically on concussion prevention. Meru meticulously engineered the collar, headrest, hardware, guards, and IDS to provide the best possible impact mitigation performance across all impact velocities for both angular and linear accelerations.

In a 70G force impact at the CAPE Crash Testing Lab in Indianapolis, the Meru Ascent FHR with IDS reduced concussion causing forces through the head on the Z axis to just under 53G's. We were able to make those gains without giving up low-threshold energy protection or sacrificing neck safety.

TIME-TO-PEAK (TTP)

Time-to-Peak (TTP) is how long it takes the energy of an impact to reach maximum g-force. Deceleration time is the single most beneficial component in reducing the severity and magnitude of any impact — the more time, the less energy transferred.

Because of our proprietary IDS technology, our speed sensitive dampener progressively lowers the heads velocity and almost triples the time to peak, spreading already drastically reduced load, over almost double the time.

UPPER-NECK TENSION

Traditional FHR’s were designed to limit upper neck tension. At the time, auto racing's biggest problem was basal scull fracture. Caused by the whiplash motion in an impact, basal scull fracture often severed spinal cords leaving drivers dead on impact. Traditional FHR designs did wonders for limiting how far forward the helmet could travel in an impact, eliminating the finished whipping motion.

Both SFI and the FIA recognize upper neck tension as a key pass/fail metric for FHR performance in basal skull fracture prevention.

The goal of lowered upper neck tension was not lost on us. The Mere Ascent tested at 1600N, beating the established performance standard of 2500N from SFI by 36%.