Radar Gun Diagnoses Head Trauma By Scanning a Person's Gait
When a Helmet Isn't Enough A new device may soon enable doctors and medical personnel to quickly diagnose concussions by analyzing a person's gait. U.S. Army Concussions have been getting a lot of air time lately, not only as evidence has emerged among head trauma-heavy populations like NFL players that their lifestyles may be doing serious long-term damage to their brains, but also because soldiers overseas are particularly vulnerable to them thanks to the tactics of insurgent warfare. But researchers at Georgia Tech have designed a device not unlike a traffic cop's "radar gun" that could soon diagnose head traumas quickly and accurately by analyzing a person's gait, whether on the playing field or the battlefield. Having one's brain repeatedly bruised is certainly not good, but even a single concussion left undetected puts a person at risk for long term brain damage, particularly if the concussion goes undiagnosed and the person takes...