Eye Tracking: An Objective Assessment for Pediatric mTBI (2025-2026)

This project examined whether eye-tracking measures can provide objective indicators of concussion and repeated sub-concussive head impacts in youth athletes. Building on more than a decade of longitudinal research, the team collected eye-tracking, neurocognitive, symptom and anthropometric data from youth and high school football players. They also documented head impact exposure through weekly surveys and the DASHR in-ear sensor. The study aims to improve the detection of mild traumatic brain injury and better understand how repeated head impacts affect the developing brain over time.

During the 2025-2026 academic year, the team completed its 10th season of data acquisition, expanding one of the nation's longest-running longitudinal datasets on pediatric sports-related head impacts. Undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral researchers advanced projects spanning biomechanics, neuroscience, public policy and anthropology, examining topics such as the effectiveness of wearable head-impact sensors, the role of eye tracking in concussion assessment, athlete decision-making and the biomechanical challenges of youth football. Three undergraduate researchers also completed Graduation with Departmental Distinction projects based on their contributions to the research.

The team's work also strengthened the project's long-term research infrastructure and national impact. Researchers secured pilot funding to develop a centralized data storage and analysis pipeline that will support future multi-year studies and interdisciplinary collaborations. Additional efforts advanced laboratory validation of the DASHR sensor through the development of a modified crash-test dummy headform, with findings presented at national and international biomechanics conferences. The team's contributions also supported a successful National Institutes of Health grant focused on improving the accuracy of head impact detection using enhanced sensor technology and data-processing algorithms, expanding opportunities for future concussion research.

Timing

Summer 2025 – Spring 2026

Team Outputs

Eye Tracking: An Objective Assessment for Pediatric mTBI (Interactive display at the Fortin Foundation Bass Connections Showcase, April 15, 2026)

Development of a Data Warehouse System for Storage, Analysis, and Downstream Applied Research with Multimodal Biomechanics and Injury Assessment Datasets Using Open Source Tools – Architecture and Proof of Concept (World Congress of Biomechanics; Vancouver, British Columbia; July, 2026)

Head Impact Exposure Device Validation through Variation in System Coupling (World Congress of Biomechanics; Vancouver, British Columbia; July, 2026)

Development of a Modified Hybrid III ATD for Head Impact Exposure Device Validation (Ohio State Injury Biomechanics Symposium; Columbus, Ohio; May, 2025)

Injury Biomechanics – Head Impact Exposure Sensor System Validation using Modified ATD Head Testing, Blake Robertson, M.S. (BME) (Masters Thesis)

Sleep-Dependent Modulation of Executive & Oculomotor Functioning in Adolescents, Sejal Patel, (NEUROSCI) (Graduation with Distinction and Honors Project)

Eye-Spy Sensitivity: Oculomotor Indicators of Head Trauma Hypersensitivity in Youth Athletes with ADHD, Johrdyn Tarpeh, (PSYCH) (Graduation with Distinction and Honors Project)

Concussion Impact Detection: Development of Sub-Concussive Impact Detection Algorithm for Continuous Biosensor Data Processing and Underreporting Analysis in Youth Football, Veronika Kostina, (BME) (Graduation with Distinction and Honors Project)

Improving Accurage Detection of Head Impact Exposure through Auxiliary Sensor Input and Post-Processing Algorithms (National Institutes of Health - R03). (PI) July 2026 – June 2028 (Grant funded)

Development of a Pipeline for Transitioning Wearable and Non-Wearable Data to a Centralized Storage, Analysis and Downstream Applied Research Platform (Center for Computational and Digital Health Innovation Pilot Funding Program. (PI) May 2025 – October 2025 (Grant funded)

Grant applications prepared and submitted for future funding

This Team in the News

Building the Future of Youth Concussion Research Through Smarter Data

Engineering Impact: How Undergraduate Research Sparked a Career in Medical Innovation

See related teams, Eye Tracking: An Objective Assessment for Pediatric mTBI (2024-2025) and Eye Tracking: An Objective Assessment for Pediatric mTBI (2026-2027).