A new study published in the Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation points to some interesting work being done using portable EEG systems to monitor sports concussions. The study analyzed results from almost 400 high school and collegiate football players during the 2008-2009 playing season in Milwaukee, WI. A total of 28 players sustained concussions during… Read More »
A recent initiative from the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force highlights an important issue affecting millions of Americans living with traumatic brain injury (TBI): the lack of long-term TBI rehabilitation care for most people, including those with health care insurance. A letter from the office of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius… Read More »
This week I had the opportunity to ask Dr. David Darby, Chief Medical Officer of CogState, for his views on the hot topic of concussions in school sports. Several states are in the process of enacting legislation that call for formal evaluation of an athlete’s cognitive health after a concussion on the playing field. The… Read More »
The Department of Defense recently released a guide for primary health care providers on treating service members with traumatic brain injury (TBI). One thing I found interesting was DoD’s definition of “mild TBI”, which includes a loss of consciousness for up to 30 minutes and post traumatic amnesia for up to 24 hours. In other… Read More »
A sports commentary from the LA Times shows the NFL’s half hearted approach to implementing new guidelines for handling concussions on the field. This $7.8 Billion industry has some interesting management and policy choices to make in the next few years. The NFL’s concussion management policies run counter to its own business interests, and there… Read More »
Interesting work being done with field-ready, portable EEG systems that are being tested as TBI triage units in hospital emergency departments. The software algorithms that drive these EEG systems are becoming so sophisticated that a lightweight, simple EEG test is nearly as accurate as a traditional (and expensive/heavyweight) CT scan for TBI related cognitive impairment.… Read More »