Fears run high when an athlete receives an injury that could possibly result in a concussion (or mild traumatic brain injury). Part of the stress comes from how uncertain diagnosis is. Coaches, trainers, and parents can look for certain signs, but symptoms vary from person to person and can be difficult to interpret. We recently told you about a promising blood test to diagnose concussions and traumatic brain injuries, but that doesn’t help on the sidelines. However, an advanced ultrasound headset could.

This advanced form of ultrasound can detect subtle changes in blood flow variations through the middle cerebral artery, which is one of three major arteries in the brain. The technology was used to assess cerebral blood flow in 66 high school athletes who had recently been diagnosed with a concussion and 169 healthy student athletes. It was able to differentiate between healthy and concussed athletes 83% of the time. This is done with "a computer program that analyzes how the wave form changes in a very subtle way and incorporates data on the entire shape. This gives much more information about the state of the vascular bed. Our results show that this technology can identify individuals with mild traumatic brain injury," said study author Robert Hamilton, PhD, co-founder of the company Neural Analytics, which makes the device.

Although 83% accuracy isn’t perfect, it could complement current diagnostic methods for concussion. The hope is to make an automated headset that could be used on sports fields. The current device is too large for that, but the company is at work on a smaller unit.

The developments in diagnosing concussion and mild traumatic brain injuries are promising. With better detection can come better treatment and, hopefully, fewer lasting problems.

The study was presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 68th Annual Meeting this week.

REFERENCES

American Academy of Neurology. (2106, Apr 13). Ultrasound Headset May Be New Way to Recognize Concussion on the Sidelines [Press release]. Retrieved 4/14/16 from https://www.aan.com/PressRoom/Home/PressRelease/1455.

Hughes, S. (2016, Apr 17). New Transcranial Doppler Device Diagnoses Concussion. Medscape. Retrieved 4/18/16 from http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/862070.