The leading neurotechnology and eye tracking system, SyncThink, has supported NBA teams like the Golden State Warriors and most recently the Atlanta Hawks. The FDA-cleared and VR eye-tracking impairment system is now partnered with Children’s National Medical Center in D.C., one of the nation’s top 5 children’s hospitals, for a study.
SyncThink and SCORE Begin Study
Children’s National Medical Center are joining SyncThink in a pediatric study that focuses on examining ocular motor deficits in kids and adolescents with a concussion. The concussion study will take place over a year and will collect data to support evidence in its use for kids in the age range of 6 to 16.
Pro athletes in the NBA and even student-athletes at the University of Texas, Standford, and Iowa State have benefitted from their teams using SyncThink. Now, the 60-second series of eye-tracking and impairment assessments will get a comprehensive study for kids.
This study will be led by Gerard Gioia and Christopher Vaughan, the Director and Assistant Director of the Children’s National Safe Concussion Outcome Recovery and Education (SCORE) program.
“The SCORE program at Children’s National was established in 2003 with the mission of promoting developmentally appropriate assessment and treatment for children with concussion,” Dr. Vaughan said. “Measuring eye tracking in youth with the EYE-SYNC product may improve our multimodal and developmentally sensitive assessment Process.”
Eye Tracking and Concussion Assessment for Kids
In a society where child athletes are becoming commonplace, so are injuries. Whether those injuries are minor or major, from a fall or an impact, youth and high school sports teams must be equipped with proper assessment interventions.
Protect The Brain’s website reports that “During 2001-2005, children and youth ages 5-18 years accounted for 2.4 million sports-related emergency department (ED) visits annually, of which 6% (135,000) involved a concussion.”
Based on the facts, getting accurate scientific data that represents kids and concussions, instead of data based on adults is an important reason why a study led by SCORE and SyncThink’s EYE-SYNC is a must!
Dr. Vaughan says, “By identifying ocular motor specific problems after concussion, we can move toward providing early targeted treatment interventions for these kids with ocular motor and vestibular problems after injury.”
Catching any eye impairments after a head impact is vital to getting treatment for children’s sensitive and growing brains. Getting an assessment that can track concussions could potentially even save lives! SyncThink’s EYE-SYNC VR technology is helpful for doctors, researchers, and treatment teams with all data being digitally accessible.
“This is a tremendous opportunity to collaborate with a premier medical center and their esteemed faculty in Dr. Gioia and Dr. Vaughan, to help establish the EYE-SYNC technology as a reliable assessment tool for the care of children and teens,” SyncThink CEO, Laura Yecies said.
Where to Get SyncThink
If you’re not a part of the Children’s National study, but are in athletics, medical, and research, you can still contact SyncThink and sign up for their EYE-SYNC kit. The kit goes for $500 a week, uses mobile VR, and requires a tablet to run its system.
It’s been used by Pac-12 conference teams, the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Stanford Children’s Health, Massachusetts General Hospital, and in over 30 care settings.
