Tag: university of notre dame

Researchers Look to Develop Concussion-Detection App

footballResearchers at the University of Notre Dame are looking to test an app on approximately 1,000 youth and high school football players. It isn’t to track their performance, but rather could provide a way to recognize concussions. The program reportedly pulls out the vowel segment from a set of predetermined words and then analyzes that sound for changes that may indicate a brain injury.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now estimates that as many as 3.8 million sports-related concussions occur in the U.S. each year. However, because concussion can go undiagnosed, the true number of such injures could be much higher.

In many cases after taking a hard hit players are simply asked, “are you OK,” and now the researchers have looked to develop a test that could be not be swayed by answers from players look wanted to remain in the game. This builds on previous studies that have found that head injuries can change speech characteristics, with negative effects on vowel production being one factor that stands out.

This app could certainly help younger players stay safe and if necessary stay off the field after taking a hard hit.

[Via MIT Technology Review: Voice-Analyzing App Scans Football Players for Concussion]

Concussion Analyzer

TabletTablets can do many things beyond playing Angry Birds and watching a movie. A team at the University of Notre Dame is developed a tablet-based test that can detect a concussion. Typically concussions, which should be treated as soon as possible, often are difficult to diagnose without a trip to the hospital.

This new software, which could certainly see use in sports, requires that the person recite a variety of words before they start playing and then again once there has been the potential of an injury occurring. The software works by analyzing the differences in how the words are said before-and-after, and looks for key indicators that could suggest a traumatic brain injury. These could include things such as distorted vowels, imprecise consonants even a hyper nasal sound. Unlike just asking an athlete if they are alright, this one can listen to how they say it. Video after the jump

GE Healthcare, Purdue and Notre Dame Develop Advanced CT Imaging, Promises Higher Clarity with Lower Radiation

In this image, the left shows image reconstruction using conventional CT imaging, and the right shows a scan using Veo. (Purdue University)

Purdue University and the University of Notre Dame have partnered with GE Healthcare to develop a new computed tomography (CT) scanning reconstruction technology they are calling Veo. The proprietary technology, according to the consortium, “enables physicians to diagnose patients with high-clarity images at previously unattainable low radiation dose levels.”

Invented in the 1970s, CT is an advanced version of spiral X-ray technology. While the technology has enhanced the ability of physicians to diagnosis diseases, patients are exposed to radiation during scanning. The Veo technology will help physicians get clearer images while exposing patients to less radiation.

“Conventional CT scanning takes thousands of views from different angles to ‘see’ organs and then creates a 3-D image of the person,” said Charles Bouman, Purdue’s Michael J. and Katherine R. Birck Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a professor of biomedical engineering. “Veo takes radiographic images digitally that use less X-ray. A reduction in X-rays means the radiation dosage is reduced. Then, our computer algorithm uses model-based reconstruction more effectively so we can form a high-quality image with less radiation.

“Basically, Veo cleans up the noise or graininess and creates a sharper image,” Bouman added.

Read the full release after the jump