{"65765":{"#nid":"65765","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Radar Shows Promise for Detecting Concussions in Athletes and Soldiers","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWalking and thinking at the same\ntime can be especially difficult for persons who\u2019ve suffered concussions, and\nscientists hope to use that multitasking challenge \u2013 measured by a simple radar\nsystem \u2013 to quickly screen individuals who may have suffered brain injuries.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EBy asking an individual to walk\na short distance while saying the months of the year in reverse order,\nresearchers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) are trying to determine\nif that person is impaired. This simple test, which could be performed on the\nsideline of a sporting event or on a battlefield, has the potential to help\ncoaches and commanders decide if athletes and soldiers are ready to engage in\nactivity again.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cResearch performed at the\nUniversity of Oregon found that when a person with a concussion performs\ncognitive and motor skill tasks simultaneously, they have a different gait\npattern than a healthy individual, and we are working to identify those\nanomalies in a person\u2019s walk with radar,\u201d said GTRI research engineer Jennifer\nPalmer.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EMore than 1 million concussions\nand other mild traumatic brain injuries are reported each year in the United\nStates and catching them right after they happen can improve treatment and\nprevent further injury or other long-term health issues. Diagnosing concussions\ncan be difficult, though, because the symptoms of concussions are not always\neasily visible or detectable, even though they last for weeks or months\nfollowing the incident. Methods exist for detecting concussions, but most focus\npurely on cognitive impairment and do not assess accompanying motor skill\ndeterioration.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EDetails of GTRI\u2019s research technique,\nwhich simultaneously examines a person\u2019s cognitive and motor skills, were presented\non April 26 at the SPIE Defense, Security and Sensing conference in Orlando.\nGTRI research engineers Kristin Bing and Amy Sharma, principal research\nscientist (ret) Eugene Greneker, and research scientist Teresa Selee also\nworked on this project, which is supported by the GTRI Independent Research and\nDevelopment (IRAD) program.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003ESeveral studies have shown that\nmeasuring changes in gait could be used to diagnose concussions, but measuring\na person\u2019s gait typically requires wearing special clothing with reflective\nmarkers or sensors so that movements can be captured with motion analysis\ncameras. Using radar for gait analysis could be faster and less intrusive than\nthese existing techniques. The assessment would be done with radar systems\nsimilar to those used by police for measuring the speed of vehicles.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=oi0PDcZuMgU\u0022\u003EWatch a three-minute video describing this research\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor their study, the GTRI\nresearch team compared how 10 healthy individuals walked normally and when subjected\nto a simulated impairment. For the impairment scenario, individuals wore\ngoggles that simulated impairment produced by drinking alcoholic beverages.\nPast research has shown that concussion impairment is equivalent to having a\nblood alcohol level of 0.05 percent.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EDuring the trials, each\nindividual performed four 30-second walking tasks: a normal walk, walk while\nsaying the months of the year in reverse order, walk while wearing the goggles,\nand walk while wearing the goggles and performing the cognitive task. For each\ntask, the subjects walked away from the radar system, turned around and walked\nback toward the radar system.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe\u2019re using a 10.5 gigahertz\ncontinuous wave radar, which is similar to a police officer\u2019s radar gun that\nmeasures the speed of a car,\u201d explained Bing. \u201cThe data we collect tells us the\nvelocity of everything that\u2019s in the field of view of the radar at that time,\nincluding a person\u2019s foot kicks, and head and torso movements.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers analyzed the\nradar data using information-theoretic techniques, which detected similarities\nand differences in the information without having to identify and align\nspecific body parts. In addition, these techniques could recognize a gait\nanomaly without requiring that an individual\u2019s normal gait be measured before\nthe person became impaired.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe found differences between\nthe gait patterns of individuals walking normally while completing a cognitive\ntask versus those with the simulated impairment while completing a cognitive\ntask,\u201d explained Palmer. \u201cThe gait of individuals walking normally while\ncompleting a cognitive task was more periodic, with regular and higher velocity\nfoot kicks and faster torso and head movement, than the gait exhibited by\nindividuals wearing impairment goggles and performing the cognitive task.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe results also indicated that\nif no cognitive task was performed, the gait pattern was not statistically\ndifferent when wearing and not wearing the goggles.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe found that we needed to exercise\na person\u2019s physical and mental capabilities at the same time to see a change in\ngait,\u201d said Bing. \u201cIt\u2019s easy for a person to concentrate on one task, but when\nthat person has to multitask we can begin to discriminate differences in gait.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the future, the researchers\nplan to collect additional data from healthy individuals of different heights\nand weights, and from individuals exhibiting concussion symptoms according to\nneuropsychological screening tests performed at a hospital. They also plan to\nreduce the size of the experimental system so that it becomes more practical to\nuse.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cFor the military, we envision\nthe system could fit into a tough box so that commanders can have it in the\nfield,\u201d added Bing. \u201cThey could simply press a button, connect the radar system\nto a laptop, and an easy-to-use interface would display the results.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EApproval from the Food and Drug\nAdministration will be required before this system can be used to help doctors diagnose\nconcussions.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Robinson (abby@innovate.gatech.edu; 404-385-3364) or John Toon (jtoon@gatech.edu; 404-894-6986) or Kirk Englehardt (kirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu; 404-407-7280)\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Robinson\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGTRI researchers are developing a radar technique they hope will allow them to quickly screen individuals to determine if they have suffered an impairment such as concussion.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Radar being tested as a way to screen individuals for concussions"}],"uid":"27206","created_gmt":"2011-04-25 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:08:38","author":"Abby Vogel Robinson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2011-04-25T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2011-04-25T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"65766":{"id":"65766","type":"image","title":"GTRI Palmer, Sharma, Bing","body":null,"created":"1449176884","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:08:04","changed":"1475894582","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:02","alt":"GTRI Palmer, Sharma, Bing","file":{"fid":"192393","name":"ttz38334.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ttz38334_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ttz38334_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1451954,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ttz38334_0.jpg?itok=hiizu8rU"}},"65767":{"id":"65767","type":"image","title":"GTRI radar concussion","body":null,"created":"1449176884","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:08:04","changed":"1475894582","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:02","alt":"GTRI radar concussion","file":{"fid":"192394","name":"tmm38334.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tmm38334_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tmm38334_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1394120,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tmm38334_0.jpg?itok=PUaM3tU5"}},"65768":{"id":"65768","type":"image","title":"GTRI Palmer, Bing, Sharma","body":null,"created":"1449176884","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:08:04","changed":"1475894582","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:02","alt":"GTRI Palmer, Bing, Sharma","file":{"fid":"192395","name":"toi38334.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/toi38334_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/toi38334_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1563323,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/toi38334_0.jpg?itok=fAsf5I2c"}}},"media_ids":["65766","65767","65768"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"3438","name":"athletes"},{"id":"4200","name":"cognitive"},{"id":"12927","name":"cognitive skills"},{"id":"3190","name":"concussion"},{"id":"12923","name":"concussion detection"},{"id":"12929","name":"concussion diagnosis"},{"id":"12924","name":"gait analysis"},{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"525","name":"military"},{"id":"12926","name":"motor skills"},{"id":"12925","name":"multitasking"},{"id":"2621","name":"radar"},{"id":"170727","name":"soldiers"},{"id":"12922","name":"traumatic brain injury"},{"id":"12930","name":"vision impairment"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbby Robinson\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News and Publications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=avogel6\u0022\u003EContact Abby Robinson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-3364\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["abby@innovate.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}