Studying concussion in college ice hockey players using susceptibility-weighted imaging

Using susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI), researchers have identified microstructural changes in the brains of male and female college-level ice hockey players that could be due to concussive or subconcussive trauma. Until now, SWI has been used to detect signs of more severe cases of traumatic brain injury (TBI). This is the first time SWI has been used to detect signs of concussion (or mild TBI), and the first time it has been used to detect changes in the brain prospectively over an entire sports season in athletes of both sexes.