Research Project
8715253
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): A mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is a complex pathophysiologic process affecting the brain, induced by traumatic biochemical forces to direct or indirect forces to the head. In sports, it has been estimated that 1.6 to 3.8 million mTBIs occu annually, yet many remain unidentified because symptoms are unreported by athletes or symptoms are not detected at the point of injury. VisionQuest Biomedical and the University of New Mexico (UNM) Sport Administration Department propose to develop an mTBI screening tool, ConQuest, with innovative testing and screening methods to address these shortfalls. Objective neurocognitive and neurosensory tests will be combined on a tablet to provide on-site, real-time screening. ConQuest's innovation lies in its ability to combine neurocognitive and neurosensory tests onto a tablet to be an integrated portable mTBI assessment tool. Existing computerized tests, such as ImPACT, DETECT, HeadMinder CSI, and ANAM, test only short-term memory, long-term memory, and reaction time, which are cognitive functions of the cerebral cortex, but fail to test neurosensory impairments. The additional capability of our system to test the autonomic nervous system through already existing tablet technology, demonstrates ConQuest ability to assess for mTBI cheaply and accurately. This multidimensional representation of mTBI results will further assist the athletic trainer in making fully informed decision on an athlete's health. In Phase I, we address the challenges of synthesizing information from tests of cognitive function and neurosensory function to deliver the assessment in a convenient, portable, state-of- the-art format that functions in the field of play.
