Manage risk, improve performance - with a Heltech impact sensor
‘Set and forget’.
It benefits sporting codes as well as clubs, coaches, parents and players alike.
* Warning! Coarse language from the father in the video on right.
Our Vision
At Heltech, our vision is to be the most advanced helmet tech company ever, by bringing helmet tech out of the 1990’s, so athletes like you can safely achieve their goals.
Brand Mission
Helping athletes protect their heads with the absolute best impact tech possible. Brain injury rehab should be as common as any other injury – it all starts with identifying a potential concussion. It starts with Heltech!
Stop the catastrophic legal risk from concussion injury, before it gets chronic (CTE)
- Concussion-level impacts detected in real-time
- Removing the athlete from play immediately, avoids compounding brain injury
- Sideline diagnosis via blood-prick test or other definitive test
- No secondary brain injury means less chance of injury becoming chronic (CTE)
* Jason Anderson in obvious distress following his face-first crash during Supermotocross (SMX) # 1 at ZMax Dragway in 2024
Meet the team behind Heltech:
They say it takes a village to raise a child. Well out ‘sensor-baby’ has had a lot of input from a lot of people! Meet the main development team that have helped to build Heltech’s ‘Crash Severity Sensor’.
Paul Dorotich
Founder & CEO
A keen (but talent-challenged) off-road motorcycle racer of more than 40 years, Paul is a systems professional and has worked in the construction and manufacturing industries to help them grow and innovate. He started Heltech by developing a new motocross helmet design, to make the sport he loves safer. Nothing like self-preservation to motivate you! Especially when hanging on to finish the last lap of the gruelling Hattah Desert Race a dozen or more times.
James Marcus
Electronic engineer
A senior micro electronics engineer with a flair for bringing ideas to life. With over 25 years of experience in the product development space, it’s any wonder that companies like Red Arc have trusted James to build out the hardware and develop the software of their products.
Brent Sullivan
Casing CAD designer
Another off-road motorcycle rider and racer adding to the sensor project. When he isn't playing in his band he works as a CAD designer, designing cool stuff. He then generates prototypes on his 3D printers to bring his work to life.
Peter Smith
Hardware engineer
The Heltech difference
Getting to the crux of the issue
Knowing the individual and the cumulative amount of sub-concussive impacts, keeps the athlete safe and the sporting code safe from CTE damages compensation pay outs.
Highly accurate 3-axis accelerometer identifies what the eye cannot
Witnessing an impact has historically been our most trusted means of identifying an impact severity.
But mid-play, what an athlete experiences can be vastly different to what our eyes tell us. Our sensors fix this.
Attached to the brow; of course!
This is obviously so impact severity alerts can be seen and heard immediately when assessing an athlete.
Our brow-worn devices (for ball sport athletes) often become more than just detection, but prevention also.
App-independent
At the time of impact, reaching for a phone to connect to an App to get results is not workable.
Instead, our sensor indicates the impact severity immediately, directly via 5 LEDs and an alarm. Get the detailed data via an App, afterwards when time permits.
Our founder’s inspiration:
Our founder, Paul, has been riding and racing dirt bikes for over 40 years. He’s not Pro level, far from it!! But over the years he’s had his fair share of crashes and seen many riders crash out, including in Speedway, motocross, MotoGP, WSBK etc. Crashing is part of motorsport, right? Yes of course, but ideally with as little injury as possible is the aim!
In 1989, Kevin Magee’s promising MotoGP career was over before it got started, due to a brain injury. In 2010, Andrew McFarlane (2005 MX2 World Championship #2) was killed at Broadford during warm up for ProMX due to a severe head injury (the year before he was due to retire). Serious brain injury and death are real possibilities in motorsports, even for Champions like Magee and McFarlane.
Recognising how rudimentary helmets are and how little they had changed over the years, Paul began developing a new motocross helmet design. That helmet design incorporated an impact sensor built into it. He decided to pull the sensor out and develop it as a stand-alone product, so every racer can have a Heltech sensor!
But almost every sport has the potential for athletes to suffer a concussion such as AFL, NRL, equestrian, Sprintcars, soccer and so on. When an athlete, professional or amateur, sustains a concussion and then continues to train and/or play, they are at a high risk of a higher level of brain injury such as CTE. So, the Heltech sensor needed to be able to be worn by all athletes whether they wear a helmet or not!
Afterall, the movie ‘Concussion’ really told the story how the NFL warriors, who seemed invincible, were not able to avoid the effects of chronic brain injury (despite wearing helmets). Danny Frawley & Shane Tuck’s deaths after stellar AFL careers, really hit home about the tragedy of CTE here in Australia.
Concussion can be just like any other injury IF it is managed correctly. Rest and rehab without further impacts can allow a brain injury to be fully overcome.
Now as carer for his mother who suffered an ABI (Acquired Brain Injury) from her chemo treatment in 2009, Paul is reminded every day what brain injury can mean.
Prevention is always better than a cure but identifying a brain injury straight away, is the next best thing!