With concussions and other head injuries ever on the minds of athletes, coaches and fans, a new device called the Concussionometer, developed by Australian company HeadSafeIP, could ease their worries by providing objective concussion assessments right on the sideline.
The headset looks like a sleep mask, but instead it shines a light into the wearer’s eyes to detect the brain’s electrical activity through visual stimulation. Electrodes on the device then beam to a smartphone, which analyzes the electrical activity in the brain. The device can determine whether the wearer has abnormal activity compared to baseline testing done before the impact. All of this happens in two to three minutes, according to Dr. Adrian Cohen, who has a background in head and neck injuries and has developed the Headsafe and Necksafe training programs for emergency responders.
“The Concussionometer is a reliable, accurate and objective way that we can help people make those decisions (concussion assessments) and get them back to sport,” Cohen said in a video presentation last month. “It’s a global opportunity here, and a market we’re ready to address.”
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Currently, SCAT (Sport Concussion Assessment Tool) is the prevailing technology used to diagnose concussions, Cohen mentioned in the presentation. SCAT entails a medley of tests, including balance, coordination and memory, and must be prescribed and administered by a doctor. With the Concussionometer, these tests become obsolete because the wearable device can detect a possible concussion directly through brain activity. Athletes take a baseline test at the beginning of a season and then are tested again after an impact on the field, according to Cohen’s presentation. Coaches can then see test results in real-time on a smartphone app.
Australian rugby club Randwick — for which Cohen is a medical specialist — had the first group of athletes to try out the Concussionometer, according to the Daily Telegraph. The club’s “first grade” tested the device during the last weekend of May, the report said, and Cohen is next seeking the Concussionometer’s acceptance by the Therapeutic Goods Administration and Food and Drug Administration in Australia and the United States, respectively.
Until that happens, the device still represents a new approach to concussion assessment — one that could in time change the way head injuries are treated in sports across the globe.
“This is proven technology, but we’ve shrunk it down into a portable, elegant headset that’s also affordable,” Cohen said in a presentation at the HCF Catalyst Showcase last month. “It’s not a room full of equipment, it’s not an hour at the doctor’s, it’s something that can be done on the sideline, in the medical room, and during return to play.”