Grant: CIHR Fellowship

Between 1.6 and 3.8 million recreation- and sport-related traumatic brain injuries occur every year in the United States alone. Deficits in balance are one of the hallmark signs and/or symptoms of concussion. Standard clinical assessments suggest that the effects of concussion on brain function and balance commonly resolve in 3-5 days. Increasing evidence indicates that longer lasting deficits commonly exist and go undetected. Although brain function and balance may be recovered sufficiently for activities of daily living, subtle deficits could potentially have catastrophic consequences in high-speed sport (e.g. ice-hockey, bob-sleigh, luge, skeleton and downhill skiing). There is a crucial need for new strategies to identify concussion-related alterations in brain function and determine optimal timing for return to unrestricted training and competition. Robotic technology, such as the KINARM robot developed in Canada, can comprehensively, objectively and efficiently (i.e. within minutes) assess elements of sensory processing and movement that are challenging to evaluate with traditional clinical tools. The objectives of the proposed research are to examine the potential of this cutting-edge robotic technology to: 1) more fully characterize balance deficits in athletes with concussion, and 2) better determine safe timing for return to unrestricted training and competition. Through collaboration with the Canadian National teams and the Edge School for Athletes, 300 high-risk winter sport athletes will undergo baseline testing and be followed for two years. Those individuals that sustain a concussion (expected ~10%) will return for robotic assessment within 72 hours after injury and once medically cleared to return to unrestricted training and competition. They will then be tracked for re-injury in their next competitive season. This innovative research represents an important step towards ensuring athlete safety in the future.