The device, named DETECT, is a handheld tablet combined with headphones and goggles that tests for cognitive impairment and traumatic brain injury by taking a subject through a series of randomized tests. It is currently being tested by the football program at the Westminster Schools and two colleges.

LaPlaca is an associate professor of biomedical engineering at Tech and developed DETECT with David Wright, M.D., an expert in emergency medicine and neuroscience at Emory University. They hope their invention will be used to keep players off the playing surface after suffering brain injuries, and to speed up the timeframe in which injuries can be diagnosed. Current testing methods can take hours, and players who don't want to miss playing time often try to hide brain injuries. This simple and efficient test has the potential to remedy that, and it has applications outside the realm of sports as well.

LaPlaca would like to see DETECT used in hospitals and on battlefields where traumatic brain injuries need to be diagnosed quickly.

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