May/June 2019 - 58

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AN EEG BIOMARKER CAN AID
IN PROMPT, ACCURATE BRAIN
INJURY DIAGNOSIS
Research demonstrates how a new, objective assessment tool can facilitate
proper return-to-play (RTP) decisions made by athletic trainers and sports
medicine professionals
A
recent study published in a peer-reviewed journal indicates
that the brain's electrical signals, combined with other
diagnostic measures, can provide an accurate, objective
assessment of mild brain injuries, including concussions. The
brain's electrical signals can be measured and tracked by an
electroencephalogram (EEG), which the study investigators
evaluated as the core component of a multimodal suite of
diagnostic tools to detect concussion and associated functional
brain impairment. The study compared young athletes between
the ages of 13 and 25 years who experienced sports-related
head injuries versus results in non-injured peers. This study
demonstrated the potential to use an EEG-based multimodal
concussion index (CI) to provide important quantitative
information about the status of brain function in concussed
patients, aiding in the early identification, treatment evaluation,
and return-to-play decisions.
Mild Traumatic Brain Injury and Concussions
in Children and Adolescents
Two-thirds of reported concussions occur in children and
adolescents, with the incidence of unreported sports-related
concussion (SRCs) as high as 50%.1
In a Centers for Disease
Control epidemiologic study, 15% of high school students
reported having at least one Sports Related Concussion, with
an annual incidence of 3.8 million cases in the U.S.2
Further,
with important brain development continuing into early
adulthood, sustaining a TBI injury before age 25 has been shown
* As many as 3.8 million Sports-Related Concussions (SRCs)
occur each year in the US
* 10,560 concussions are reported each year in NCAA athlete
* 15.1% of US high school students (approximately 2.5 million)
have had at least one concussion in the past 12 months
* Two-thirds of reported concussions occur in children and
adolescents, with the incidence of unreported Sports- Related
Concussions as high as 50%
Harmon KG, et al. Br J Sports Med 2013;47
Zuckerman SL, et al. The American Journal of Sports Medicine, Vol. 43, No. 11
L. DePadilla L et al., Mortal Wkly Rep 67 (24) (2018) 682-685z.
to be associated with impaired adult functioning, psychiatric
disorders, low education achievement, and disabilities.3
There is a growing realization that mTBI/concussion is associated
with significant short- and long-term performance impairing
morbidities. These include concentration deficits, insomnia, loss
of balance, sensitivity to light and noise, fatigue, memory loss,
nausea and headache, as well as increased healthcare utilization,
and missed school or work time. Moreover, repeated cases of
concussion or sub-concussive brain injury have a potential role
in chronic neurodegenerative disease. Reinjuring the brain while
concussed can lead to very serious health problems-far more
serious than one injury. Researchers have found that individuals
who have suffered multiple concussions during their lifetime
increase their chances of depression, post-traumatic stress
syndrome (PTSD) and suicide by 1.5x to 3x. These long-term
consequences include the now well recognized chronic traumatic
encephalopathy (CTE) syndrome with its progressive and
debilitating behavioral and neurodegenerative effects, including
aggression, depression, episodic memory loss, and impulsivity.
Currently, CT scans are the most common diagnostic tool
performed in ER patients with sports-related head injuries.
Approximately 90% of CT scans of head-injured patients are
negative, typically revealing no visible abnormal findings. This
indicates that CT scans are overutilized and may lack diagnostic
sensitivity for identifying structural and/or functional brain
injury immediately after occurrence.
BrainScope® Supports Research into Assessing Brain Injuries
BrainScope is a Bethesda, MD based neurotechnology company,
manufacturing a unique, FDA-cleared medical device named
BrainScope® One, which uses a patient's EEG signal and other
neurocognitive assessments to help determine the presence and
severity of a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) or concussion.
BrainScope One aids the clinician in determining whether a patient
is likely to have a structural injury, (e.g., brain bleed) and/or brain
function impairment (e.g., concussion) associated with a head injury.
The Company's next generation device, BrainScope TBI®, which
is currently pending FDA-Clearance, will expand concussion
58 T&C MAY/JUNE 2019
TRAINING-CONDITIONING.COM
http://www.TRAINING-CONDITIONING.COM
May/June 2019

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