New tool may help spot ‘invisible’ brain damage in college athletes

An artificial intelligence (AI) computer program that processes MRI results can accurately identify changes in brain structure that result from repeated head injury, a new study in student athletes shows. These variations have not been captured by other traditional medical images such as CT scans. The new technology, researchers say, may help design new diagnostic tools to better understand subtle brain injuries that accumulate over time.

A new study from NYU Tandon and NYU Langone including first author Junbo Chen, a Ph.D. student at Tandon, showed for the first time that the new tool, using an AI technique called machine learning, could accurately distinguish between the brains of male athletes who played contact sports like football versus noncontact sports like track and field.