Cleveland Clinic rolls out iPad app to test northeast Ohio athletes for concussions

BRUNSWICK, Ohio - A new research tool is being rolled out for the first time this fall and it could really keep kids safe.

Dr. Jay Alberts with the Cleveland Clinic created an app to use as a baseline quiz. The app, called " C3" or Cleveland Clinic Concussion App, was developed last spring.

Trainers use an iPad to administer the app. It's essentially a 15-minute test. The quiz covers things like your brain function, balance, reaction time, and your memory.

"If they do have a concussion, we can see where they've changed or how they've changed in these various domains of function," Alberts said.

Football and soccer players at Brunswick High were recently tested. Garrick Koermer, a football player at Brunswick High, said he's had a concussion before.

"My doctors weren't sure what it was at first and then I had to get a cat scan, tests like that, and this could have helped solidify, that hey, you had a concussion," Koermer said.

This is going to be a widespread method used locally in contact sports. The Cleveland Clinic Concussion Center was scheduled to go to 56 high schools in northeast Ohio and three colleges to test athletes.