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Brain injury diagnosis requires advanced imaging technology

On Behalf of | Dec 24, 2015 | Brain Injury

Brain injuries can have a lasting impact on a person’s life in New York, causing memory problems, sensor problems and difficulty sleeping, to name a few issues. Unfortunately, brain images that have been taken from soldiers with traumatic brain injuries considered to be mild suggest that current methods used to diagnose concussions are not sufficient when it comes to detecting damage. This means that even a brain injury that is considered mild based on current imaging technology might lead to damage that is long lasting.

Researchers are emphasizing the need to use an advanced form of body imaging to detect brain damage in people who have suffered concussions, as this could help physicians to determine what treatments are most appropriate for them. In many concussion cases, MRIs and CT scans do not reveal signs of damage to the brain. In addition, evaluations of a patient’s cognitive skills and motor skills are based heavily on subjective interpretation and thus may prove ineffective, especially when conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder have symptoms similar to those associated with brain injury.

An advanced version of MRI was recently used in a research study to more closely examine abnormalities in how the brain is wired. The images revealed that the body had tried to repair the damaged part of the brain and that a small scar was left behind. The findings show that increasingly cutting-edge imaging is truly essential for properly diagnosing brain injuries.

Brain injuries can easily detract from a person’s quality of life. Suffering these injuries in New York can be particularly frustrating, particularly if they were caused by the carelessness of another person, such as another driver on the road. A traumatic brain injury victim in this situation has the right to file a personal injury claim against the reportedly at-fault party, seeking damages that — if awarded — might help the victim to cover his or her injury-related losses.

Source: technologyreview.com, “Advanced Brain Imaging Could Better Diagnose Concussions”, Mike Orcutt, Dec. 21, 2015

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