New device aims to detect football concussions

<p>It looks like an oversized pair of tinted goggles combined with a large plastic set of earmuffs, but researchers say the odd-looking device quickly can detect brain injuries on the football field or wherever they might occur.</p><p>The new device, called "DETECT," can determine in minutes on the sidelines of a football game whether a player has suffered a dangerous concussion that requires immediate medical attention. In contrast, traditional brain injury exams can take an hour in a specialist's office or hospital.</p><p>Designed by researchers from Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, the device is being tested it in Atlanta emergency rooms. Its creators also hope to start testing it at the Georgia Tech football games next season with it becoming available for other teams within the next five years.</p><p>"If a football player takes a hit, it's not known if he has an injury or not," said Michelle LaPlaca, a creator of the device and assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Georgia Tech. "We're trying to catch those players that should not be back in the game."</p><p>The device _ short for "Display Enhanced Testing for Concussions and mild Traumatic brain injury system _ shows an injured player a series of words and shapes to test the player's cognitive ability and memory. It can be administered by a non-medical person and can determine in up to 7 minutes whether a person needs to be taken to a doctor.</p><p>"We needed something very fast or coaches wouldn't use it because they don't want to take a player out of the game very long," said Dr. David Wright, another creator of the device and an assistant professor of emergency medicine at Emory.</p><p>The device, which would cost between $500 and $1,000, also may be helpful in eliminating pressure on team medical officials in getting injured athletes back on the field, said Dr. David Marshall, medical director of the sports medicine program at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.</p><p>Many players end up back in the game after suffering a head injury. Dr. Don Penney, a neurosurgeon in Lawrenceville, Ga., said studies have found that about 70 percent of players who have suffered a head injury have immediately returned to the same game. Nearly 1 in 5 high school players have had at least one minor head injury and about 300,000 people suffer sports-related head injuries yearly.</p><p>"There's room for a lot of improvement in how we manage concussions on the sideline. If it's simple to utilize, then it would make it available to trainers and coaches," said Penney, who was not involved in the development of the device. "If this unit ... keeps it simple, I think there's a great role for it in the management of sports head injuries."</p><p>Returning to a game too soon with a head injury means increasing the chance a player will become seriously injured if hit again. The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns of "second impact syndrome," a repeat concussion not long after receiving the first head injury. The new injury can cause rapid brain swelling that can lead to a coma or death.</p><p>____</p><p>On the Net:</p><p>HASH(0x1d0d4f8)</p><p>HASH(0x1d0d5a0)</p>

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