In Houston, Galveston, Alvin and throughout Texas, many people who are involved in car crashes, work accidents or slip-and-fall incidents experience a blow to the head. Both closed and open head wounds can cause bruising and other damage to the brain. The result can be a concussion or other brain injury with immediate symptoms including confusion or loss of consciousness. A personal injury lawyer knows that brain injuries, and especially repeated injuries, can have lasting health affects. A person who suffers from repeated brain injuries, for example, is more likely to develop dementia later in life.
Brain injuries are hard to treat and part of what makes them difficult to provide care for is that there are no easy and simple ways to quantity and classify brain injuries. It is difficult for clinical trials or new treatment options to be performed because doctors cannot always effectively identify the extent of damage to the brain or is slow improvements. Further, it is difficult for physicians to track whether treatment is causing any ongoing improvement.
Now, Forbes reports there may be some progress. Eye tracking technology may be an effective way to measure the extent of damage to the brain and to identify the site of damage to the brain. Eye tracking technology is relatively simple to use, and it could be invaluable not just for doctors during the treatment phase but also for first responders who need to screen people to see if they have sustained a brain injury.
Could Eye Tracking Technology Help With Brain Injury Diagnosis and Treatment?
Eye tracking technology was developed by researchers at Langone Medical Center at New York University. A study published in the Journal of Neurosurgery assessed whether it was effective at helping to diagnose traumatic brain injury.
There were 169 patients involved in the study. Twelve of the participants had abnormalities in the cranial nerves controlling the eyes or they were suffering from brain swelling in a part of the brain near the optical cranial nerves. The other 157 patients were considered neurologically normal.
The participants in the study were shown 220 seconds of a television show or a music video. As they watched, their eye movements were tracked. The patients who were considered neurologically normal had a 1:1 ratio for horizontal and vertical movements of the eye. Their eyes moved up-and-down at close to the same rate as the eyes moved side-to-side.
Patients who had damage to the cranial nerves, however, had different ratios. The extent of the abnormality was different based on where in the brain the injury was and how severe it was. After secondary brain swelling was corrected in some of the patients, their ratio of eye movements returned back to normal.
The fact that eye tracking was able to effectively help locate the site of brain injury and pinpoint the extent of it was a positive development that suggests eye tracking could become an important diagnostic tool.
Accident lawyers in Houston can help after your injury. Call today at (800) 632-9404 or visit www.h-nlaw.com to schedule your free consultation with Hagood & Neumann. Serving clients in Houston, Galveston, Alvin and throughout Texas.