Concussions and other injuries from head impacts continue to capture the attention of athletes, their families, their coaches, and their healthcare providers. Fortunately, we are rapidly learning a great deal about the problem, which is helping with better evaluation and earlier treatment.
Part of this progress has been driven by devices that provide objective data, both as baseline conditions and as post-impact evaluations, so that clinicians do not have to rely on the traditional subjective measures. We have covered one such system: Eye-Sync from SyncThink. This uses eye tracking technology to measure the errors that occur when the brain tries to coordinate the movement of the eyes. The battery of tests includes following a moving object and measuring the tiny movements as focus shifts from one point to another. The full battery takes less than two minutes to perform.
SyncThink received FDA clearance three years ago for “recording, viewing, and analyzing eye movements in support of identifying visual tracking impairment.” Last month, the FDA granted Eye-Sync “Breakthrough Device Designation. This means that the system will benefit from a faster assessment and review by the agency. The goal of this designation is to be able to apply the Eye-Sync data in assessing possible concussions. It also opens the door for the use of the system in assessing other neurological conditions.
