Thanks to increased public attention on the subject, the issue of riders racing while with a concussion is something that is being talked about at higher levels of the motorcycle industry, and today we see MotoAmerica elevating how it regards brain injuries at the race track.
As such, MotoAmerica will begin using the Vestibular-Ocular Motor Screening (VOMS) system during the 2017 racing season, in order to monitor MotoAmerica participants for head injuries after a crash.
For those who don’t know, VOMS will allow race officials to more effectively and accurately diagnosis whether a rider has suffered a concussion, and is capable of competing after a head trauma.
MotoAmerica says it has been working on head injury evaluation since 2015, when it brought on board Dr. Raymond Rossi, with the express goal of providing consistent evaluations of its riders and their fitness in relation to concussions and other injuries.
VOMS is a new level of sophistication for MotoAmerica, as the series used to employ the Sport Concussion Assessment Tool 3rd Edition (SCAT 3), in conjunction with the Balance Error Scoring System (BESS), in order to assess rider fitness as it relates to concussions.
VOMS differs from these other methods though, in that it uses a machine to establish a baseline response rate to a battery of brain tests, and then uses those scores in relation to a post-crash evaluation.
Estimated to be 90% accurate, MotoAmerica will continue to use VOMS in conjunction with SCAT 3 and BESS evaluations, and the American road racing championship will also begin testing a new more-accurate protocol called IPAS, which was developed by Neuro Kinetics, Inc. in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
“Obviously, concussion is a matter of high importance for the well-being of our MotoAmerica riders,” said MotoAmerica Partner Chuck Aksland. “When we had previously considered what protocol we wanted to put into place for our series, we were a bit hesitant because it seemed like the current methods available were really too subjective to make an accurate determination on the true condition of the rider.”
“Through discussion with my former colleague Dr. Stephen Olvey, he brought the VOMS / IPAS method to our attention and it really seems like this is the step we were looking for to provide a more accurate diagnosis of a rider after a fall.”
“The diagnosis and management of concussion is rapidly evolving,” said Dr. Rossi. “Neurocognitive testing, such as ImPACT, has been a helpful tool in the care of the concussed athlete. Computer assisted VOMS / IPAS testing may have a more unique advantage for the motorcycle racing athlete given the specifics of their Mechanism of Injury.”
Source: MotoAmerica
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