Could a Smartphone Be Trusted to Detect Traumatic Brain Injury?

Caused by a bump, blow, or jarring of the head, traumatic brain injury causes some 52,000 deaths, 275,000 hospitalizations, and it results in more than one million trips to the emergency room each year. Sadly, there are also many others that may never receive treatment because they are not aware of their injury. This is the gap that scientists from the University of Washington are trying to close with their smartphone brain injury detection application. Can the app be trusted to make accurate diagnoses, though, and how might access to it change the outcome of personal injury cases – particularly automobile accidents? Learn more with help from the following.

The application is named PupilScreen. Using the camera and flashlight of a person’s phone, it records an eight-second video of a suspected brain injury victim’s pupillary response to light. The application then analyzes the video, distinguishing the difference between the pupil and the iris and then comparing the size of the pupil in each frame to the ones before and after it. It then notifies the individual if the person should be treated in an emergency room.

The app also creates a metrics report that can be used by clinicians to diagnose whether a traumatic brain injury has occurred – and that makes this a doubly useful tool since TBIs can be difficult to diagnose in an emergency room as well.

Although the application is still in its testing phase (scientists have only used it with the stabilizing aid of a device like the 3D phone viewers), early results suggest that it could change everything about head injuries – including the current statistics. What we know now about the rate of brain injuries is limited because there are so many who go untreated. Furthermore, persons who experience a serious brain injury may be more likely to receive prompt treatment, and that could reduce the number of deaths that occur. Finally, the application could give everyone – doctors, sports’ coaches, parents, and witnesses of car crashes alike – the power and ability to help someone suffering from a potentially deadly head injury or concussion.

You may be entitled to compensation if you or someone you love has experienced a head injury because of an auto accident or other personal injury accident. Unfortunately, the pursuit of a claim is a complex and arduous process. Ensure you have an experienced negotiator on your side, protecting your rights and interests, by contacting Corsiglia, McMahon & Allard, LLP for a free analysis of your case. Call our San Jose traumatic brain injury lawyers at (408) 289-1417 today.

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