Sensorimotor Assessment and Rehabilitative Apparatus
Abstract
Within the population of Veterans exposed to traumatic brain injury (TBI) a clinical pattern of damage to the hearing, vision, and balance systems has emerged, which has collectively been given the name multisensory impairment (MSI). Evidence suggests nearly 20% of Veterans diagnosed with the mild form of traumatic brain injury (mTBI) have MSI. In the US civilian population, MSI-related symptoms are also a common sequelae of mTBI and damage to the balance system, affecting ~ 300-500/100,000 population. The goal of our research is to validate a portable measure of MSI (vision and balance) for use in challenging environments such as military theater. To do so, we will compare those measures of MSI by our device against the current gold standard laboratory measures. The device is called SARA (Sensorimotor Assessment and Rehabilitation Apparatus) and uses unique programming and algorithms to rapidly assess problems associated with MSI. In addition to validating this device, we will collect data and apply well-established vestibular rehabilitation to both Veteran and civilians with MSI in order to build a statistical model that can predict those patients (Veteran and civilian) that respond best to the intervention. By doing so, we can improve the efficiency of management, in that our method will be useful to triage those patients towards or away from rehabilitation. This will shorten the time for patients to receive optimal care. Eventually, we hope our device will be adopted by the military for use in theater and by the many clinical facilities that do not have access to more cumbersome and expensive laboratory testing centers. We have designed a 3-year applied research study using two sites: the War Related Illness and Injury Study Center at the VA Medical Center in East Orange, NJ and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore MD. This design ensures our study is applied to a common problem across both military and civilian patients.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Apr 04, 2016
- Source ID
- W81XWH1510442
Entities
People
- Michael C Schubert
Organizations
- Johns Hopkins University
- United States Army