CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The next tool in the campaign against concussions might be your smartphone.
A doctor at the University of North Carolina teamed with other head-trauma researchers to develop an application for mobile devices that helps determine whether someone might have suffered a concussion.
Jason Mihalik of UNC’s brain injury research center joined Justin Smith of Psychological Assessment Resources Inc. and the Children’s National Medical Center in developing the program.
Smith said it’s the first observer-based concussion app. After the user answers a series of questions, the app determines the likelihood of a concussion and can e-mail information to a doctor. Mihalik said Thursday that the basis for the app’s question flow comes from materials provided by the Centers for Disease Control.
The introduction of the app at the National Sports Concussion Cooperative’s daylong seminar is just one way to speed the response to possible concussions.
The cooperative consists of coaches, doctors, equipment manufacturers and parents. The group was formed in March to study concussions and brain trauma injuries in an attempt to make sports safer.
“We’re trying to do more. We think there is an opportunity to do more,” said Art Chou, Rawlings’ vice president of research and development.
