Using EVestG Assessments for Detection of Symptomology Consequent to a Lateral-Impact Concussion

This study was conducted to investigate plausible differences in vestibular response due to lateral-impact concussion using electrovestibulography (EVestG). EVestG signals are recorded non-invasively from the external ear in response to vestibular stimuli; the EVestG signal consists of peripheral vestibulo-acoustic signals and the brainstem’s response. In this study we investigated the relationship between characteristic features of the extracted field potentials (FPs) of EVestG signals in participants with lateral-impact concussion in comparison with those of healthy controls. Twelve lateral-impact concussed participants (5 right and 6 left lateral-impact) and 12 age-and-gender-matched healthy controls were tested by EVestG. Characteristic features were extracted from the FPs during side tilt, and a leave-one-out linear discriminant analysis (LDA) classification was applied to the extracted features. The results show a clear asymmetry on the impacted side between the left and right FPs after lateral-impact compared to those from healthy controls. The LDA classification resulted in a sensitivity of 67%, specificity of 92 and 79% overall accuracy for separating lateral-impact concussed participants from controls. EVestG appears to have diagnostic potential in diagnosing lateral-impact concussion.