Steve Devine: former All Black on the launch of the Nurochek headset

New Zealand will have first use of a groundbreaking device that’s set to revolutionise concussion diagnosis for rugby players in the country.

The world’s first portable brain scanner - known as the Nurochek headset - will allow head injuries to be detected in just two minutes.

Steve Devine is a former Blues and All Black halfback that had his career cut short in 2007 because of too many head injuries - and he joined D'Arcy to discuss the technology. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Dancy Wildergrave
from News Talk z'd be.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
It's nine minutes to eight today. Groundbreaking device, so as
claim was revealed that New Zealand will get the first
crack it. It's good the Eurocheck. It's a headset. It's
a portable brain scanner designed to give a yes, no
you've been concussed in the space of only two minutes.
Going to be rolled out to healthcare providers next month.
Looking at rugby clubs buying into this by the twenty

(00:37):
twenty sixth seven season. It Steve Devine, former Blues format
all like halfback career cut Shorty knows more than a
few things about concussion. Is an ambassador for the product.
I'll stand up on some of your rugby club today
having a chat to them about it. We started off with.

Speaker 3 (00:53):
This, Hey, Steve Hey, head on good good.

Speaker 2 (00:56):
So neurocheck this is brand new technology that's been running
now for seven or eight years and finally it's got
the gully head first up. Tell us exactly what neurocheck is.

Speaker 3 (01:06):
So Neurotics, a portable brain scanner is cleared by the
FDA as a medical device to assess anti tech concussion
in two minutes.

Speaker 2 (01:15):
Basically, it's a device that sits on your head after
you've been not and it determines whether you've been exposed
to concussion and you're not in a great state to
carry on.

Speaker 3 (01:25):
So it's a brain scanner portable. You've had a hit,
you put it on. It's a two minute test that
measures the electricity in your brain is such through your
through your eyeballs, and after the two minute tests will
say yes or no you've been concussions like pregnancy. You're
you're either concustable or not. There's no little, there's no large.

(01:45):
You're either yes or no. So it'll tell you in
two minutes, yes or no, whether you can return to
the field or whether you are not fit to return
to the field.

Speaker 2 (01:55):
The FDA plainly have okayed this, which is huge for
the Americans to do this. But aside the state, some
where else has looked at that from a New Zealand
and an Australian perspective, what have been their opinions around them.

Speaker 3 (02:06):
Because it's FDA cleared, it can be used in New
Zealand as a medical device, It's been tested in the studies.
NFL Team Ossie rules rugby league, rugby union, boxing in Australia.
So it's done the test, it's plassed, it's got the
tick of approval. It's good to go for New Zealand.

Speaker 2 (02:23):
Ideally this goes everywhere. It's not just concussion and rugby something.
Of course, you're very close to it. It's something you
can be utilized right across a number of different sports
and not only sport but other places where you pick
up concussion.

Speaker 3 (02:36):
Yeah, so the biggest cause of head injuries in New
Zealand is car accidents, and then second, I believe it's
equestrian and then third rugby league and rugby union are
lumped together, so they're third. And then you have all
the other sports like mma, fighting, skateboarding and rollerblading because

(02:57):
a lot of that stuff's concrete falls. So there are
workplace incidents huge and also healthcare facilities. There's huge use.
Thirty five thousand concussions in New Zealand a year that
are tested, they reckon up to maybe fifty percent of
them go undetected, undogynised.

Speaker 2 (03:17):
No baseline required either, so it's basically clip and play
for one of a bit of phrase.

Speaker 3 (03:23):
You can't cheat it, so there's no baseline test to
go slow on. So then when you do this test
you're in comparison no baseline, you can it's impossible to cheat.
You can close your eyes why the lights are flashing,
and they'll still detect through your eyelids. So it's uncheatable,
which is massive when we get into contact sports accessibility.

Speaker 2 (03:44):
It comes at a cost of around about three thousand dollars.
There might be too much for a lot of smaller clubs.
What are you doing in that space around assisting and
getting this device out there?

Speaker 3 (03:56):
Yeah, no, listen, we're going to try and work with
everyone in the forms of some of the bigger clubs.
Maybe we put a couple of dollars on everyone's suscriptions
at the start of the year to pay for a device.
We're looking at sponsorships from large businesses and the club's
sponsors as well. For a device as such like an
MRI is ten million, where three grand is not a

(04:17):
large amount of money, and then thirty dollars for a test,
so we think that is very affordable in the bigger
picture of medical devices.

Speaker 2 (04:25):
In a professional world, there are doctors everywhere. You've got
your hi as, you have everything, but it's down the
next level below where this machine, this neuro chap becomes
a whole lot more important.

Speaker 3 (04:35):
Yet, but even even with a doctor, like the tests
they do now not one hundred percent, so it can
be used as an aid for a doctor. It can
be used as an aid another string to the bow
to make a decision yes or no. And then when
there isn't a doctor, it's the only device that can
detect and it takes the fear away from a parent,
it takes the stress away from from a coach, and

(04:58):
it puts it in the hand of a clear medical
device to say yes or no. It's going to save lives.
It's going to change the way we deal with the
concussion in New Zealand.

Speaker 2 (05:08):
Huge for insid and his Zealand Rugby wants their response
being to.

Speaker 3 (05:12):
Wear a check. We're chatting with with ns A. You
know we've we're in the process of chatting to the
Warriors and New Zealand Rugby. We're in the process of
chatting to anyone who wants to chat to us because
you know, Yachting's it's a it's a problem. Concussions is
a problem across society and we don't think it's for Rugby.

(05:33):
We think it's for everyone, and we want to have
those conversations with everyone because that's important. We want to
make it affordable, which it is, so that everyone can
use it and everyone can get access to it, and
that's why we're talking to our physios because we think
that's probably the best way to get the device out
there is through physios. Their linked with acc their medical

(05:54):
trained professionals already, so we really feel the physios are
probably more community where the doctors sit maybe a little
bit away from the community and a bit harder to reach.
So we really we really want to have some big
chats with some physiotherapists because we think that's the best
best way to get this in the community.

Speaker 1 (06:14):
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