HEADREHAB, LLC
SARASOTA, FLORIDA

HeadRehab is focused on bringing transformational technology to the neuro market to enhance the way sports medicine professionals, researchers, and physicians evaluate brain function. The Sarasota company makes and sells virtual reality software designed to test a patient’s balance and spatial memory. Now 9 years old, HeadRehab has graduated from the start-up phase and is now busy expanding its sales. All Penn State varsity athletes and many younger athletes from the local community undergo testing before their practice season starts, to provide baseline performance levels. Athletes who later suffer a concussion undergo testing after their injury, to monitor their recovery. Video produced by Penn State University, featuring 128 Channel EGI and HeadRehab Virtual Reality for concussion management Movies and video games in 3-D can entertain our kids, but now similar technology is helping diagnose brain trauma. A Clearwater medical practice is using virtual reality testing with older folks and giving us a new look at brain function. Dr. Morris told OTW, “In an effort to provide cutting edge technology to our community we chose Head Rehab whose foundation is based on solid neuroscience combined with virtual reality technology which evaluates multiple areas of brain function; spatial memory, balance, reaction time. This science/technology is a good fit with our Sports Medicine and Performance program where we provide sports medicine services to 15 area high schools who provide a variety of sporting options to the student body.” Doctors are using virtual reality to keep student athletes safe from their reality on the playing field. Sports medicine specialists at Florida Hospital say repeated small hits can actually lead to concussions. HeadRehab technology gives doctors a baseline for future diagnoses. HeadRehab Concussion Management technology in play at the Penn State Sport Concussion Center. CBS News highlights HeadRehab virtual reality technology in the Penn State Sport Concussion Center where all PSU athletes take a pre-season Baseline test and Post-Injury tests following any suspected head-injury. Dr. Sam Slobounov shares insight on the rationale that places HeadRehab as a central component in PSU’s concussion testing protocol. Both a 3DTV version and a portable head-mounted display version of the HeadRehab hardware are featured. HeadRehab started seven years ago working with military war trauma. Now expanding to sports concussion market. Duo say doctors, researchers and athletic trainers lack an objective, scientifically valid technology to quickly assess brain performance after a concussion. Virtual reality device gauges individual’s memory, balance and reactions on a 1-10 scale as baseline at start of a sports season to compare after any potential head injury. Software sold using “per test” or “per month” pricing models directly to athletic programs. This short recovery window has raised concerns whether the currently used clinical balance tools are capable of picking up the residual deficits often associated with concussion. Although clinical management has remained consistent, continuing technological advancements have allowed for the creation of virtual reality (VR) paradigms. Virtual Reality (courtesy of HeadRehab, Inc) is designed to be an interactive environment generated by a computer that mimics the real world. An important component of the VR setting is that the participants inside the environment feel a strong sense of presence and the illusion of forward self-motion. In unpublished data (Slobounov S, Teel L, Newell K, Ray W, 2013), participants undergoing the HeadRehab VR balance test used in this study report a sense of presence of 9.2 (±1.4), with 0 being no sense of presence and 10 being high sense of presence. This high sense of presence found in the VR environment creates an immersive and more life-like setting, which is an added benefit to VR testing. Compared with more traditional and clinically used concussion assessment tools, other benefits of VR are the 3-dimensional (3D) nature of the tests and transferability to real-life situations.9 Along with its ability to assess depth perception, several studies have found that decision-making processes and visual search behavior are different in a 2-dimensional (2D) versus a 3D environment.10–12 Along with creating a more realistic testing environment, these additional visual qualities have made VR modules susceptible to balance deficits seen after concussion up to 30 days post-injury.9,13–15 Although VR balance assessments are used in research settings, VR technology has yet to become a common part of clinical assessment. To transition from a research to clinical setting, VR balance assessments must first be shown as a legitimate postural assessment tool. Therefore, the primary purpose of this study was to validate the HeadRehab VR balance assessment module for use in clinical settings. We hypothesized that the VR system would be significantly correlated with area of center of pressure (COP) data obtained from force platform. It should be noted that the COP area is considered a major clinical index of postural stability.16 Additionally, we hypothesized that concussed participants would have significantly worse balance measures compared with normal controls. In conclusion, the HeadRehab Virtual Reality Balance Test is a valid tool for concussion assessment in clinical settings. This novel type of balance assessment may be more sensitive to concussion diagnoses, especially later (7-10 days) in the recovery phase than current clinical balance tools. The purpose of this study was to investigate if Virtual Reality (VR) neurocognitive and executive motor function evaluation tools are susceptible to practice and fatigue effects similar to those currently used in a clinical practice. Fifteen athletically active and neurologically normal Penn State students participated in a VR “practice effect” study. Another 15 Penn State football players participated in an “effect of fatigue” study on neurocognitive, balance, and executive functions. HeadRehab, Inc developed the Virtual Reality software used in this study.