Former Cal Poly football player Connor Heffler is trying to make sports safer with game-changing concussion evaluation technology.
His friend and former teammate, Drew Sulick, is a prime example of how dangerous the game of football can be, especially when it comes to concussions.
“Honestly, the deciding factor was when she asked me, she goes, 'Hey, do you want to be able to hold your kids someday?' And I was like, 'I do, yeah.' And she was like, 'I would recommend you stop playing football,'" Sulick recalled of a conversation he had with a local neurologist.
It would turn out to be his third diagnosed concussion and the worst he had ever had.
“The stadium kind of started to get blurry and it almost felt like my my peripheral vision was was going away and and within 15 minutes, I couldn't see," Sulick said.
It’s not the only story of someone who experienced a bad concussion but now, there’s an opportunity to make sure fewer stories like that exist.
“Our goal is to provide these concussion tests right on the sidelines where it matters most in real time and provide these tests in five minutes or less,” said Marina Zellers, Cal Poly 2024 graduate.
Zellers works with Heffler's start-up. For his senior project, he developed Odin Diagnostics to tackle the issue of concussions and how they were evaluated. Now, they are in the process of developing a VR headset that allows for real-time, unbiased detection of someone’s symptoms.
Heffler says it's an upgrade from current concussion protocol on the sidelines, which he says requires about 20 questions and answers between medical personnel and the injured athlete.
“It's completely subjective and kind of allows athletes to be dishonest or not disclose their symptoms and kind of puts it in the athletes' hands,“ Heffler explained.
Cal Poly Football Head Coach Paul Wulff says unfortunately, it's not uncommon to see athletes want to do whatever it takes to stay in a game.
“Sometimes you get your bell rung and you know what happened to you, but you also are aware enough of what's going on," Wulff stated. "If you just don't say anything, sometimes you think it'll go away.”
According to the NFL, there were 219 concussions in 2023.
This new technology aims to provide quicker detection, and it could be utilized in all sports for all ages.
“Any dysfunction in eye movement means that there is some abnormality in your brain, so that concussion disrupts that connection," Heffler said.
Heffler and his team are a part of Cal Poly’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship's 2-year incubator program that provides $10,000 in seed money to build a start-up.
Up next for Odin Diagnostics is their clinical study.
“I really don't think you can put a price on that. I think that's an extremely valuable piece of technology for any sideline," Sulick said.
