Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 1/29/18
From Press Release and Staff Report
Philadelphia-based company EyeGuide is pleased to announce they are finalists in the NFL’s third annual 1st & Future startup pitch competition. In this national competition, just three finalists in each of three categories are invited to the Super Bowl festivities to present their innovations for advancing player health, safety, and performance.
EyeGuide Focus is a game-changing neurological impairment (i.e. concussion) detection/management platform using proprietary eye-tracking hardware & software. In just 10 seconds, it collects 1,200 data points on eye movements, for baseline tests, sideline tests, and return to activity tests. Because of the low cost, speed and portability, EyeGuide can perform unlimited tests and promises to serve as an essential and ubiquitous new tool in the neurological impairment testing/management protocol.
The EyeGuide CEO is Patrick Carney, a Springfield-Delco graduate and 2013 inductee into the Eastern PA Chapter of the US Lacrosse Hall of Fame. Carney, who resides in Wallingford, helped lead Springfield to the Pennsylvania Scholastic Lacrosse Association Championship in 1982 and earned All-American honors at Swarthmore College as a goalie. Carney, who also played for the Eagles Eye Lacrosse Club and the MAB Philadelphia Lacrosse Club, as well as the Philadelphia Wings and Team Ireland, coached with Haven Youth Lacrosse, Penn Star and Mesa Fresh programs and co-founded Heritage Lacrosse – which developed its own event management technology platform as well as boys’ and girls’ tournaments and showcases.
On the Saturday before Super Bowl LII, the NFL together with Comcast-NBCUniversal and Mayo Clinic will host a shark tank like competition where the finalists present their game-changing technologies to an exclusive audience and panel of judges in Minneapolis.
According to EyeGuide Founder and Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Brian Still, “EyeGuide Focus fills an obvious need in concussion detection and treatment. There are nearly four million concussions per year in the United States, enough for the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to call it an epidemic. Many current detection tools cannot be used immediately after a possible concussion and often take far too long to administer.
“Results from over 10,000 Focus tests, performed over the last two years, demonstrate that doctors, athletic trainers and other healthcare professionals are embracing the speed and ease of use of Focus, as well as the objectivity and quality of the data being returned.”
Carney, who leaves Wednesday for Minneapolis, adds, “The concussion problem is white hot. There is an array of tools for each stage in the concussion management protocol (baselines, injuries, return to play) but each tool has drawbacks in terms of speed, efficacy, objectivity, cost, ease of use.
“EyeGuide is uniquely positioned for each stage & is objective, fast, portable, low cost and easy to use for UNLIMITED tests, dramatically improving objective data to inform care, and improve player safety & outcomes. Importantly, the attributes of Focus make it valuable and accessible at all levels of sports, from professional, to collegiate, scholastic and even the youngest participants.”
Carney said he learned just several weeks ago of the competition and applied online.
EyeGuide Focus is competing in the New Therapies to Speed Recovery division of 1st & Future. In this category, the judges are looking to identify new technologies that improve care and accelerate recovery. With its 10-second test, EyeGuide enables programs to rapidly perform baselines on an entire group, objectively test athletes for impairment immediately post-injury, and track their progress at each stage during the return to play protocol.
The winning team from each category will receive a $50,000 check from the NFL and two tickets to Super Bowl LII.
“EyeGuide Focus has been proven in the field in diverse clinical and athletic settings over the past 24 months,” said Carney. “One of our early adopters is Tony Testa, the head athletic trainer at Seton Hall University – Tony has made this a regular and ongoing part of the brain health protocol with SHU’s athletes.
“We are currently working with a dozen high profile partners for the next wave of our rollout. We are so honored to be invited to participate in the NFL 1st & Future event, and expect our platform will resonate across all levels of athletics.”