NFL expanding concussion efforts with use of iPads

The NFL is will use an application to use on iPads to expand their concussion efforts. (Donald Miralle/Getty Images)

The National Football League plans on expanding their efforts to better diagnose and treat concessions by using an application that can be used on Apple's iPads, reports the New York Times. 

Last season, the league mandated the use of the postinjury sideline concussion assessment tool with an additional test done at the beginning of presesason. That tool will now be available via an app on iPads and available to all 32 NFL teams. The app was tested by a few teams during the pilot session last season.

The hope is that being able to compare the results of a baseline test and a postinjury test side by side in real time will speed diagnosis and help doctors and trainers recognize when a player should be removed from a game. The league also plans to have independent neurological consultants on the sideline during each game to assist the team physician in diagnosing and treating players. “I think we have to be careful,” said Dr. Margot Putukian, the director of athletic medicine at Princeton University Health Services and a member of the NFL's Head, Neck and Spine Committee. “The tool, it’s not the be-all, end-all. There are going to be athletes who have concussions that this tool does not pick up. It’s not a perfect test. Nor is there one. We don’t have one that is a perfect test.”