Doctors treat concussions with new iPad app

CLEVELAND–It’s the heart-pounding moment of the game.

An injured player and one question: Is it safe for them to play?

“The ones that are most dangerous are the ones that are underreported, said Dr. Richard Figler, of Cleveland Clinic sports medicine. “And we all know that athletes have a tendency to underreport their symptoms.”

Now, Cleveland Clinic researchers are treating concussions with an unusual invention: An iPad app.

The app works two-fold. First, althetes will use it to answer questions to test their memory and cognitive ability. Then, the iPad will be strapped onto the athlete to test physical ability–something difficult for doctors to assess objectively.

“The iPad has in it an acceleromator and a gyroscope, and we strap that onto the athletes to measure their postural stability,” said Susan Linder Cleveland Clinic physical therapist and one of the inventors of the app.

The Clinic started creating the C3 application in April. Now, they’re testing 100 high school and college athletes in Northeast Ohio. The app helps doctors compare a players concussion to their health before the injury.

It’s estimated that about 300,000 traumatic sports-related injuries occur in america each year. The c3 application helps doctors to compare a players concussion to their health before the injury.

“It’s pretty cool to have an iPad do all that,” said Danielle Sample, volleyball player at John Carroll University. “Balancing on the foam square was extremely hard. The receptors in my feet could not keep my balanced at all.”

The app is only available to doctors and coaches. It allows them to exchange notes quickly.

“It’s instant. It’s portable,” Linder said. “It’s still only about 25 minutes long to do all the different domains of concussion assessment.”

It’s a potentially life-saving app with the ability to test athletes on and off the field

“The biggest thing that we’re trying to do is prevent the athlete from going back too soon,” Figler said. “Right now, we think this will add another test they can do rather inexpensively, hopefully, in a medical setting.”