A new study on sports concussion - the first of its kind in the world - has been launched by the Institute of Technology Carlow (ITC).

The pioneering pilot study will use the retina of the eye as a potential assessment tool in the diagnosis of concussion. The two-year project will involve 200 contact sport participants aged between 18 and 24, including players from League of Ireland football team, Shamrock Rovers, and players from Kilkenny's All-Ireland winning camogie team.

A concussion usually occurs following a blow to the head and can temporarily affect how the brain works. Symptoms can include headache, blurred vision, confusion, nausea and a loss of consciousness.

Despite the potential dangers of concussion, diagnosis remains subjective. It relies on the clinical signs and symptoms as interpreted by the tester and there are still no imaging techniques to diagnose it.

Furthermore in Ireland, there is a lack of research on the incidence and prevalence of concussion in sports such as camogie, hurling and football, and there is a particular scarcity of information when it comes to concussion in females.

According to the study's lead researcher, Dr Clare Lodge, a chartered physiotherapist and sports rehabilitation lecturer at ITC, while research on elite adult athletes is progressing, more attention needs to be focused on younger and amateur athletes.

"Exploring objective markers that may contribute to the diagnosis of concussion is fundamental to help us identify these players early and optimally manage them.

"We know that the retina is an extension of the brain and we are aware that studies investigating shaken baby syndrome have identified intraocular hemorrhages (internal eye bleeding) that may precede both the clinical and radiologic (scanning) recognition of brain tissue trauma. Therefore, if we can explore and identify whether there are retinal changes post blunt head trauma, this will pave the way for further studies," Dr Lodge explained.

Speaking at the launch of the study, consultant ophthalmologist, Dr David Kent, pointed out that the problem with concussion in sport ‘is that there is no effective method to visualise the brain to examine for the effects of concussion'.

"We must rely on subjective testing of the player, which can be unreliable. As eye doctors, we visualise and image the retina every day. It makes perfect sense therefore to examine the retina in order to look for the potential effects of concussion and, by extension, try and get a handle of what's going on in the brain - especially in the acute phase following the injury," he noted.

The study is being funded by the Irish Research Council.