VRx: TBI Neuromonitoring

Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) accounts for about 10% of all sports-related injuries each year, posing serious health risks if athletes return to play too soon. Although return-to-play protocols exist, current diagnostic tools like SCAT, ImPACT, and SWAY lack objective biomarkers to accurately guide recovery decisions. Eye movements and pupillary responses have shown promise as potential biomarkers for neurological recovery. Wearable immersive technologies, such as virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR), offer standardized, quantifiable assessments of neurocognitive function. Our team developed a VR-based neuromonitoring system using the Meta Quest Pro 3 to track real-time eye metrics during interactive cognitive and vestibulo-ocular tasks. The system adapts task difficulty while collecting continuous ocular data. Built in Unity, the platform demonstrated reproducible metrics and strong tolerability in healthy subjects. This proof-of-concept highlights the potential of VR to objectively assess oculomotor function, providing a more objective and engaging approach to tracking concussion recovery and enhancing patient safety.

Project video