Concussion and Traumatic Brain Injury

Traumatic Brain Injury 

"33,149 service members were found to have TBI in 2011, 771,874 veterans needed treatment for TBI from 2001 through 2011," and this number is considered low.

Traumatic brain injury or TBI is a form of brain function disruption caused by workplace accidents such as explosions, falls from heights, motor vehicle accidents, and heavy strikes to the head or body. TBI's are generally very severe and require hospitalization if not surgery to correct. 

The effects of TBI can last months to years. In some cases, individuals never fully recover from this injury.  This makes TBI a significant health issue, which affects service members and veterans during times of both peace and war. The high rate of TBI and blast-related concussion events resulting from current combat operations directly impacts the health and safety of individual service members and, subsequently, the level of unit readiness and troop retention. 

Concussion

"1.7 to 3 million individuals in the U.S. experience concussion: 275,000 are placed in the hospital, 52,000 die. Most concussions go unreported or unfound." This happens each year - every year.

Concussions are a milder form of TBI. They are a type of brain function disruption caused by a bump or blow to the head or body during sporting events, play, falls while at work or at home. These events cause the head to move rapidly back and forth. Doctors may describe these injures as mild because concussions generally are not life-threatening - but people do die from concussions. Even so, their effects can be serious. Understanding the signs and symptoms of a concussion can help you get better.

Concussion symptoms generally last days to weeks but can go on for years. Like a major TBI, sometimes the individual will never get better. 

AISMA will enter a joint-project venture with Medical Athletics Sports Services to study and evaluate better diagnostic methods and potential interventions.

So what are doing to make a difference?

AISMA has created a partnership of engineers, mathematicians, physicists, and physicians to develop an injury evaluation and diagnostic system. This system will be able to more accurately determine if a head injury exists as well as if there has been issues with the mental and physical condition of the individual. More over our system will be able to establish if a concussion or TBI is happening as it occurs.

That’s right. Our aim is to know when the TBI happens as it occurs in real time. No guess work. No reading tea leaves. No hoping everything is fine after the fact. Much like neurologists and cardiologists identify strokes and heart attacks as they are taking place then intervening before there is permanent damage, our approach will do the same. Our scientists are working to see the TBI/concussion as they come about so your doctor can step in and stop it before there is any long lasting damage.

Our evaluation and treatment approach will also work to reverse previously damaged brains to ensure mental deterioration is minimized.

Yeah, really cool.