A Look inside TBI:

The story begins with a brief look at just how devastating and common Traumatic Brain injuries are to mankind and the degree of grief and suffering brought about by those injuries. From mild traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI or “concussion”) to blast (bTBI) to repetitive head impacts (RHI) on a continuum to Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), this chapter introduces what has taken center stage for this author. Identifying the scope of the problem and how Dr. Smith was transformed from a practicing Medical Internist to pioneering the technology capable of changing the world of contact sports.

In this chapter, the mention of the difficulties in diagnosing TBI and even the bias that can go into the study of TBI in the lab and clinical settings are presented. There is even discussion of explaining that more than brain material can be at risk in head impacts; specifically, the auditory systems (hearing) of the brain and even the spinal cord come into play when trying to understand this scourge on humanity and how we might tackle it.

Finally, this chapter introduces Cavitation as a possible mechanism of brain damage and how the medical and scientific communities recently overlooked this phenomenon as quite possibly the true scientific principle, possibly providing the answer to overcoming the misery that TBI affords.