ATLANTA, April 25 (UPI) -- A simple test using radar technology can quickly determine whether an athlete or a soldier has suffered a concussion, researchers at a Georgia Tech school say.
Researchers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute say people with concussion have difficulty with simple multitasking, like walking and thinking at the same time, and performance of the task, measured by a simple radar system, can screen individuals for concussion, a GTRI release said Monday.
By being asked to walk a short distance while saying the months of the year in reverse order, a simple test that can be carried out on the sidelines at a sporting event or on a battlefield, a person's readiness to engage in further activity can be quickly determined, the researcher said.
The researchers tested how 10 healthy individuals walked normally and when wearing goggles that simulated alcohol impairment, since past research has shown that concussion impairment is equivalent to having a blood alcohol level of 0.05 percent.
"When a person with a concussion performs cognitive and motor skill tasks simultaneously, they have a different gait pattern than a healthy individual, and we can identify those anomalies in a person's walk with radar," GTRI research engineer Jennifer Palmer said.
"We're using a 10.5 gigahertz continuous wave radar, which is similar to a police officer's radar gun that measures the speed of a car," researcher Kristin Bing said. "It's easy for a person to concentrate on one task, but when that person has to multitask we can begin to discriminate between someone who is impaired and someone who is not."
