New virtual reality headset technology is to be tested in British races as a concussion management tool.

The technology, NeuroFlex, measures a person’s eye and head movements as they perform simple tasks. It is the result of 30 years of research by NeuroFlex Chief Medical Officer Mimi” Galiana and is used in the South Australian Football League and Australian Super League. It will also be used in this year’s FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

The hope is that it can be used as an objective way to measure the brain health of jockeys over time, which could help make decisions about returning to riding and having benefits long after retirement. a jockey.

“I was extremely impressed and delighted with how seriously this is taken within the horse racing community,” said NeuroFlex executive director Grenville Thynne. H&H.

As the technology works with VR goggles and a laptop computer, it makes it portable for pitchside testing – or on the course – which takes about eight minutes.
Dr Thynne added that the key to this technology is that it works on an individual basis and gives an objective assessment, to help those involved in recovery care make an “informed decision about whether a cyclist is ready to resume driving.

“The most important part of this is the pre-season health baseline,” he said, explaining that it gives an individual-specific baseline or “dashboard” for that each person be measured in the future.

“When we talk about humanizing or personalizing this process, if you have your own dashboard, it means that if you suffer a fall, you can be monitored down to your baseline health, over the period of time it takes to get there, on an objective basis. And that dashboard stays with you for life.

He said this means that for retired jockeys, if they start to feel the effects of crashes in the future, they have this “digital scorecard” of all their previous tests to refer to.

A team from NeuroFlex’s Australian headquarters are in the UK to train a select group of medical clinicians in the use of the technology, before basic jockey testing begins this year. Training will take place at the Injured Jockeys Fund’s Oaksey House Rehabilitation and Fitness Center.

“Given the high-risk nature of our sport, British horse racing takes concussions very seriously, with strong protocols in place to ensure the highest standards of care and attention for our jockeys, and dedicated rehabilitation support provided by the Injured Jockeys Fund,” said a British Horseracing Authority spokesperson.

“It is critical that we remain at the forefront of scientific research and innovation in concussion management, which includes examining the potential benefits of technological solutions, while ensuring engagement with colleagues across other major sports around the development of shared guidance and protocols.”

Concussion management: new rating system for riding helmets in the works

Leading sports concussion researchers are set to bring a rating system to riding helmets.

Virginia Tech physicians Steve Rowson, Stefan Duma, Mark Begonia and Barry Miller spoke at the Equestrian Symposium in Virginia, USA (August 11-12) about the STAR (Summation of Tests for the Analysis) scoring system of Risk) for riding helmets.

In short, the STAR value is the theoretical number of concussions a person would experience while wearing this helmet if their field exposure matched lab impact tests.

The odds correlate with real-world injury rates; the lower the STAR value, the better the star rating, with five stars the highest rating of the headset. It is designed to complement existing helmet certifications and fill gaps in concussion risk.

“With the same impact, there can be very different biomechanical responses between helmets. We felt it was our responsibility for everyone to have this information,” Dr Rowson said. are not identical simply because they correspond to a [pass/fail] Standard. This is true for skull damage, but not for concussions.

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