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Smartphone App Can Rapidly Monitor The Brain for Signs of Concussion
T
he Brain Injury Research
Institute reports that high
school athletes who sustain a
concussion are three times more likely
to sustain a second concussion, and a
lack of proper diagnosis and manage-
ment of concussion may result in serious
long-term consequences, or risk of coma
or death.
Brightlamp Inc., a Purdue Univer-
sity-affiliated startup, has launched an
application that lets a smartphone user
quickly record data that can be sent to a
medical trainer or other medical profes-
sional who can objectively determine if
that person has sustained any neurologi-
cal disturbance, including concussion,
with potentially serious long-term health
repercussions.
The app, called Reflex, works ex-
actly like a pupillometer and can take
a digital video recording with a smart-
phone of an individual’s eye to measure
a response called “pupillary light re-
flex.” Basically, the user holds the cam-
era up to an eye, taps the screen and a
light flashes to initiate a response from
the pupil. Reflex is a Class I regulated
medical device, according to the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration.
The app measures the latency, con-
striction rate, dilation rate and other rel-
evant metrics. Change in pupil response
has been correlated with brain stem and
hypothalamus injuries including blast-
induced traumatic brain injuries, non-
blast-induced traumatic brain injuries,
neurodegenerative diseases and condi-
tions affecting cognitive capacity. The
app can be used by athletic trainers,
physicians, neurologists and academic
researchers to monitor cognitive func-
tionality for many neurological distur-
bances, diseases and abnormalities.
A concussion is a mild traumatic
brain injury caused by a bump, blow or
jolt to the head or body that causes the
brain to move rapidly inside the skull.
Diagnosing a concussion can be tricky.
According to Brain Injury Research In-
stitute, an estimated 1.6 million to 3.8
million sport- and recreation-related
concussions occur in the United States
each year.
The Brain Injury Research Institute
reports that high school athletes who
sustain a concussion are three times
more likely to sustain a second concus-
sion, and a lack of proper diagnosis and
management of concussion may result in
serious long-term consequences, or risk
of coma or death.
Revelations from former profes-
sional athletes have shown concussions
have potential for long-term damages.
The Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention says people with traumatic
brain injuries can face effects that last
a few days or the rest of their lives. It
says effects of TBI can include impaired
thinking or memory, movement, sensa-
tion, vision hearing or emotional func-
tioning, such as depression or personal-
ity change.
The ultimate goal is to let a sports
youth coach or parent to use a version of
the app that can suggest there is a prob-
lem, but that would require approval
from the FDA, which will take years,
said Kurtis Sluss, Brightlamp’s CEO.
“We give them an objective tool to
monitor that. That way they’re not sec-
ond-guessing,” Sluss said. “Plus it gives
them data they can reliably look back on
and track progression over time.”
Medical professionals have long
used the pupillary light reflex — usually
in the form of a penlight test where they
shine a light into a patient’s eyes—to as-
sess severe forms of brain injury. Recent
tests have shown that those tests aren’t
very accurate, Sluss said. A growing
body of medical research has recently
found that more subtle changes in pupil
response can be useful in detecting mild-
er concussions. Sluss said Brightlamp’s
app is better because it is more sensitive.
— Source: Purdue University
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