BioVRSea In Numbers
Sailors in North Iceland sea
In November 2023 the BioVRSea team move to Akureyri, a wonderful town in the North of Iceland, famous for the hard North Sea fishing activity, for a full week to measure 21 professional seamen working for the company Samherji hf. It is important to include in the study the sailors only if they came back offshore after a trip on a fishing ship in the North Iceland Sea not more than 6 hours before the BioVRSea acquisition, otherwise their characteristic postural control behaviour would be compromised. All the different jobs inside the boat (from cooks to deck operators to drivers) are considered as inclusion criteria. Only men are included in this specific study cohort.
Why sailors?
The involvement of seamen in our BioVRSea study have a significant impact on the improvement of health and safety during long sea voyages. Additionally, it could be useful in preventing the "mal du debarquement" (disembarkment syndrome) which has very similar motion sickness symptomps but occurs after staying long time in an “moving” environment like a fishing boat. "Mal du debarquement" refers to the sensation of rocking, swaying, or bobbing that some individuals experience after returning to land following a sea voyage or other type of travel that involves motion, such as flying or long car rides. The sensation can persist for a prolonged period, sometimes lasting weeks or months, and in workers like sailors who spend hours, or days or even months on sea, this beahviour is extremely common. The actual results relative to the sailor cohort clearly indicates important divergence in the adaptation strategies, indicating dissimilar techniques to adapt to the virtual environment presented by the BioVRSea simulation and our experiment can be enorumusly useful to help these hard workers, tipical of the Icelandic working culture, in thei daily working life well being.
Sport Related Concussion
In the concussion cohort are included 54 female actual or former professional athletes competing at the highest level in Iceland in different sports basketball (16.7%), handball (35.2%), soccer (38.9%), ice hockey (5.6%), or martial arts (3.7%). 48.1% of the cohort had a history of diagnosed concussion/s, while the 51.9% had no concussion history.
Why Concussion?
A concussion is a type of brain injury caused by a blow to the head or a sudden jolt that shakes the brain inside the skull. This can happen during sports, car accidents, falls, or any other event that results in a strong impact to the head. While concussions are often mild, they need to be taken seriously as they could affect how your brain functions during your whole lifetime.
Sport-Related Concussions and Postural Control
In the world of sports, concussions are quite common and can occur in various activities. Sports like football, soccer, hockey, basketball and martial arts are well-known for their high risk of concussions due to frequent collisions and falls. Players often experience impacts from collisions, falls, and accidental elbows or hits to the head. Many who suffer a concussion do not seek medical assistance, leading to a loss of accuracy in tracking these injuries.
There is currently no objective way to diagnose a concussion, and there isn't a precise, universal definition. Medical professionals rely on clinical assessments, which can be problematic since symptoms are non-specific and could relate to other illnesses, both mental and physical. Commonly, concussion assessments are carried out using questionnaires based on the most recent consensus definitions. Combined with our Motion Sickness Questionnaire we used the Sport Concussion Assessment Tool, fifth edition (SCAT5), very efficient to evaluate symptoms after an incident and track recovery.
When you suffer a concussion, it can disrupt the way your brain processes information from your senses, muscles, and joints, leading to difficulties in maintaining balance. Given the common post-concussive symptoms like dizziness and balance problems, the objective assessment of postural control is crucial for those who have suffered a concussion. Postural control depends on inputs from the visual, vestibular, and somatosensory systems, all of which can be affected by a concussion.
Understanding concussions and their impact on postural control is essential for recognizing the seriousness of these injuries and ensuring proper recovery. By using a combination of assessments, such as CoP, EMG, and EEG, healthcare professionals can better diagnose and manage concussions trough BioVRSea. Additionally, heart rate changes during our BioVRSea protocol can provide further insights into the recovery process. It’s important to take concussions seriously and allow adequate time for recovery to ensure long-term health and safety.
Are you interested in more… read here our results in the latests publication on concussion using BioVRSea:
Publications