Diagnosis and Management of Mild TBI via Eye Tracking.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to expose the prevalence of mild traumatic brain injuries among high school football players and to explore the possibility of implementing eye tracking performance as an objective way to assess cases of potential concussion.

BACKGROUND: Concussions are one of the most common forms of traumatic brain injury (TBI). Unfortunately, current research suggests that mild TBIs cannot always be accurately diagnosed via routine neurologic examination. Also, most evaluations, such as ImPACT, are survey-style assessments that are time intensive and subjective. Lack of an objective method to rapidly assess concussions on the field raises concern for second-impact syndrome (SIS), which can lead to permanent brain damage or even fatality.

DESIGN/METHODS: This multi-part study included a population of 849 high school athletes in from Lubbock, TX. Student athletes filled out a baseline concussion survey, then assessed their eye tracking performance with the EyeGuide Focus, a 10-second test that involves visually tracking a continuous, figure-8 shape. A vector-based system was used to measure the eye-tracking deviation.

RESULTS: Forty-two athletes were recorded with a baseline eye-tracking score, and a subsequent eye-tracking score that was labelled as a suspected concussion by a physician. Of those 42, 17 had a follow-up eye-tracking test 2 weeks later. Test scores labelled with suspected concussion had a significantly higher mean raw score than the baseline score. Higher scores indicate greater vector deviation from accurately tracing the figure-8 with the eyes.

CONCLUSIONS: The survey results show underdiagnosing of concussions at lower levels of youth sports, which may indicate a lack of resources. As the data shows marked changes between the concussed, baseline, and follow-up scores, eye-tracking promises to be a quick and efficient tool to assess sports-related concussions.