The University of Pittsburgh’s department of neurosurgery has repeatedly endorsed the use of computerized neurocognitive testing and the use of vestibular testing in making TBI/concussion determinations, which includes the use of these technologies by the National Football League (NFL) and NASCAR.

Major universities, premier medical teaching institutions, multiple state and federal courts and large-scale medical providers have issued guidance to the medical community and have published peer-reviewed papers and rulings which clearly indicate the efficacy and the use of these 21st century technologies for assisting clinicians in making the clinical diagnosis of traumatic brain injury. This includes the University of Pittsburgh, Miami Medical School, the United States Military, and multiple court rulings (most recently the “Kentucky ALJ” ruling).

As a standard in the industry, which includes guidance over the past several decades from the Centers of Medicare Services (CMS), the testing battery is  performed by technicians proficient in administering the technical component of testing and NOT by the supervising licensed professional. These technicians are trained by MedTrak VNG and monitored daily for quality assurance and best practices standards.

Dr. Richard P. Newman has been a board-certified neurologist for more than thirty years. He practices neurology by Tele-Medicine for hundreds of hospitals in multiple states and over the past 16 years he has interpreted more than 100,000 VNG studies.

Scott Auerbach, PT, and his companies have been providing formal continuing education coursework in the specialties of vestibular rehabilitation and concussion management for many years. They are sponsored by several major universities and state boards of physical therapy in the United States.

Scott Auerbach and MedTrak VNG, Inc. own the original FDA 510K for videonystagmography and have been instrumental in training medical practitioners, hospitals, universities, and the US military in the use of VNG, posturography and computerized neurocognitive testing.

With the creation of MedTrak Diagnostics, Scott Auerbach, PT and Richard Newman, MD FAAN have been instrumental in combining these technologies into an organized format. This allows medical practitioners an easier route toward gaining insight into the clinical picture and finalizing a clinical diagnosis of mild traumatic brain injury/concussion.

It is important to note that MedTrak’s testing battery is NOT DIAGNOSING TBI through the testing.

MedTrak’s consultants are evaluating and quantifying the neurological consequences of patients who have the suspicion of having sustained a concussion/TBI and correlating the patient’s symptoms with those known to result from mild traumatic brain injuries.

 In reviewing the initial testing data, the interpreting physicians/consultants for MedTrak Diagnostics are simply categorizing and quantifying the effects of the dysfunctions identified by the testing and how it will affect the patient’s life.

The test results and reports can then be sent to any qualified practitioner who will make the final clinical diagnosis. At that time, the relevant prior medical history can be included in making the final diagnosis and/or determining causation. In many cases, Dr. Newman is called upon to perform an independent medical examination of the patients who have undergone the testing battery, to finalize the clinical diagnosis of traumatic brain injury/concussion.

The results of the battery of objective testing specifically provides a proper foundation for determining the extent of the patient’s brain damage. The evaluating clinician is provided with this important objective and symptomatology correlated information which then assists with the final clinical picture and the medical probability regarding the determination of causation.

The rehabilitation of brain injured patients requires complex treatment plans with are symptom and functional deficit based and performed by a skilled practitioner. Medtrak Diagnostics finalized reports greatly assist the rehabilitation specialist by allowing them to target the specific brain deficits. This usually creates a pathway to patient compliance and more functional outcomes. Additionally, MedTrak and its sister companies provide expert training and clinical assistance (and physical therapy state board approved CEU training courses) to rehabilitation specialists interested in treating brain injured patients.

Most of mTBI rehabilitation involves compensation and coping techniques because of the permanent disabilities encountered in mild traumatic brain injury. The permanent loss of neural pathways causes significant functional deficits along with increased anxiety, stress and depression and often psychiatric care should be considered for brain injured patients.

Interpra, Inc., owned and created by Scott Auerbach, PT and, with the assistance of Dr. Richard Newman as its main interpreting consultant since 2004, has been assisting medical professionals, hospitals, and universities with VNG raw data interpretation for more than 16 years. It has provided these clinicians and institutions with several hundred thousand finalized and organized narrative reports and is likely the largest repository of vestibular testing data results in the world.

Medtrak and Interpra have hundreds of thousands of patients in their data base and because these companies are involved in test reporting of NON concussion patients in all 50 states, as well as testing traumatic brain injury patients, an EXCITING AND GROUND-BREAKING development has occurred. This is the discovery of a probable BIO-MARKER for TBI found in VNG testing. It is called HIGH AMPLITUDE MICROSACCADES.

With regards to “Microsaccades” the literature is clear. Microsaccades are a normal phenomenon found to help maintain central vision, noting that if the eyes do not move at all, the visual receptors will fail due to an inability to replenish energy stores. HOWEVER, when the microsaccades amplitude increases, it is an indicator of loss of cortical control or cortical inhibition as a fine-tuning mechanism. VNG testing is so sensitive and specific, that it captures and clearly records high amplitude microsaccades (not visible to the human eye/evaluating clinician).

High amplitude Microsaccades are often a direct result of sustaining a traumatic brain injury.

 Mild traumatic brain injured patients can expect to require a lifetime of expensive treatment. Significant downgrades to a patient’s workplace abilities, lifestyle and function should be expected. Over time, a patient’s ability to compensate and remain functional declines and these patients become significant fall risks, which usually ends in serious additional injuries.

Also, it is important to note that patients who sustain mild traumatic brain injuries are at high risk for developing dementia, Parkinsonism, motor problems and Alzheimer’s disease.