[tps_title]Arizona treating concussions very seriously[/tps_title]
#UofA Developing virtual reality concussion awareness app for athletes. http://t.co/pWbnx1Ldh2
— Arizona Beardown! (@WildcatBearDown) October 8, 2015
Some of it has to do with nationwide negative publicity Arizona endured when the Wildcats continued to play quarterback Matt Scott against USC in 2012 despite him vomiting, a symptom of a concussion.
But most of Arizona’s understandably extreme caution has to do with the NCAA’s revised stringent concussion protocol starting this school year.
In the past, Anu Solomon may have continued to play against UCLA and started against Stanford after he was banged in the head by a UCLA defender’s thigh pad two weeks ago. He left the field smiling and waving to fans.
Solomon was cleared to play Thursday to play in Saturday’s game with Oregon State after a meticulous multi-step process.
The school is taking concussion awareness one step further than other institutions:
It was announced recently that Arizona’s engineering and biomedical researchers are working on a virtual reality experience aimed to increase concussion education and awareness with NCAA football players and other student-athletes.
“Our hypothesis for this study is that if student athletes experience the side effects of concussion, which there are 22 side effects, they will be more likely to report when they do get a concussion,” Ricardo Valerdi, principal investigator for the project, said in the school’s Web site. “The way for us to do it is with virtual reality.”
The side effects range from loss of balance, headaches, blurred vision and dizziness. Valerdi wants the virtual reality simulation to give players more confidence in recognizing the symptoms and make the right decisions.
The Arizona researchers given $100,00 in funding from the NCAA as part of the NCAA Mind Matters Challenge, a joint initiative with the U.S. Department of Defense to educate student athletes and soldiers on concussions.
Stanford has a virtual reality contraption to help quarterbacks analyze defenses better. Arizona has this virtually reality tool to better treat concussions as they occur.
Technology at its finest.
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He has also written articles for Bleacher Report and Lindy’s College Sports.[/tps_footer]
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