Blue Marble Gaming has developed a set of “neuro games” to help people with various conditions such as traumatic brain injury (TBI) with their rehabilitation. The company employs trained in-house clinical researchers, physical therapists and occupational therapists to help develop the games. Its games are funded by the government to benefit neurological health and are based on Microsoft Kinect technology, which uses the human body as a controller.
A high proportion of the 273,859 troops diagnosed with traumatic brain injury since the start of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq continued to experience “significant symptoms and problems” five years after injury, the Pentagon said in its first take on a 15-year TBI study mandated by Congress.
At only 30 years of age, Melissa Walker is helping to heal the invisible wounds of our nation’s service members from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
Traumatic Brain Injury is a big deal. It has affected 266,810 service members between 2000 and 2010 alone. When you think about this injury, it’s easy to focus on those types of TBI associated with major trauma or death. In all actuality – according to the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center – penetrating, severe, and even moderate TBI only represent 11% of the TBI cases among service members. The largest incidence is those classified as mild (82%). 6.8% of TBI is not classifiable.
Twenty percent of strokes hit people under age 65, and the cause of many of those strokes remains a mystery. Having had a concussion or other traumatic brain injury might make the risk of a stroke more likely, a study says.
Facing the possibility of a medical discharge Sgt. 1st Class Jason J. Manella made an internal decision that changed his path as a warrior in the Army reserve.
If one survey of teens in Ontario, Canada, is any indication, as many as one in five seventh-through-twelfth graders has experienced some kind of traumatic brain injury in his or her life.
Many fear that those about to be made redundant will be put at risk without access to the military’s internal support network, especially since symptoms of PTSD and other stress-related illnesses can take years to emerge. For example, many Falklands War veterans were diagnosed more than a decade after the conflict.
Victims of penetrating head injuries usually seek immediate attention, as the hole in their skull is difficult to miss. However, people with closed-head injuries may show few immediate signs of the trauma, and appropriate diagnostic equipment (primarily a CAT scanner) is often not immediately available. A Mexican-US team of researchers has now developed a simple, easy to operate, and inexpensive electromagnetic sensor for traumatic brain injuries, suited to on site use by field personnel and paramedics.
Blood tests revealing hidden brain injuries. Drugs that stem the damage. Differences in men and women who suffer head blows. Even a new app to help people determine whether they’ve suffered a concussion.