$2M Army Project Aims to Create an mHealth Wearable to Diagnose Concussions

The US Army is investing $2 million in a project to develop an mHealth wearable that can identify concussions.

The US Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC) is issuing the grant to Oculogica, a New York-based company that has developed EyeBOX, an eye-tracking neuro-diagnostic tool designed to identify a concussion within four minutes. The company will be working with the US Army at West Point’s Keller Army Hospital, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay to create the connected health platform, and pairing its platform with AdHawk Microsystems’ camera-free eye tracking technology.

The project, one of many aimed at using telehealth and mHealth tools to better identify concussions and treat those who’ve sustained them, has applications not only in the military but in other arenas as well, including schools, sports, industry and primary care.

“This is an advancement the field has been waiting for, and it is so needed,” Christina Master, MD, a physician and researcher at CHOP and co-director of the hospital’s Minds Matter Concussion Program, said in a press release. “We have been studying eye-tracking as part of a multi-modal assessment of concussion for several years in the clinic. The ability to take this to deployed settings, such as the military or sports field, is a critical next step.”

In 2019, the US Department of Defense joined forces with Abbott to develop an mHealth platform that could analyze blood samples taken in the field for proteins released after a concussive brain injury. This latest project aims to eliminate the need to take a blood sample.

“With concussions impacting more than 10 million people annually, making tests more accessible to patients – even at the site where they are injured – can be critically important,” Oculigica CEO Rosina Samandani, PhD, said in the release. “The earlier we can detect a concussion, the greater the likelihood of a good outcome. The Oculogica concussion detection technology is ideal for a fast, non-invasive, wearable field test, in part because it does not require the collection of any bodily fluids.”

Researchers and healthcare providers have been working for year to perfect technology that can quickly identify a concussion in the field, be it a battlefield, sporting event or workplace. Through mHealth apps on tablets, wearables, even telemedicine robots, these platforms aim to diagnose the neurological disorder and quickly connect with specialists for treatment.