Concussions can often times be an invisible injury. Because of the hidden nature of the problem, a local high school is becoming the first institution to implement a game-changing technology to protect their young athletes.

The program, that applies electrodes in helmets to an athelte's head and tests the brain's baseline voltage, is the latest technology in concession testing, and JSerra High School in San Juan Capistrano is the first institution to use this technology on their athletes.

Soccer player Ryan Arzu was one of the first atheltes to be tested. 

“It was cool. I mean, it was like the wave lengths were showing like which part of my brain was responding to the beeps and stuff like that. I thought it was pretty interesting,” says Arzu, who looks like he's playing a virtual reality game, not testing a medical device.

About 40 noises in four minutes come through the head phones and the atheltes must “click” when they hear the noise getting louder. The test measures how fast the brain reacts without an injury, giving trainers, coaches and parents a baseline to compare to when the athletes experience concussion-like symptoms.

“It makes me feel like the school is being proactive to look out for our kids’ safety,” says parent Sara Poplawski.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, 15 percent of all high school athletes have experienced a concussion. 

“Seeing this technology now, when I was in high school we never did any kind of baseline concussion testing. There was no test you could do if you thought you had a concussion or a bad headache. I went to the doctor to treat it, but I’m sure there was plenty of times where my headaches weren’t bad enough or I wasn’t feeling sick enough that I kind of just let it slide and didn’t take care of it,” says Head Athletic Trainer Kasey Kavanagh.

Before this test, there was no objective way to measure for concussions. A concussion protocol exists at all levels of sports - but it’s ultimately the doctor’s opinion if a player has a concussion or not. Trainers and doctors still work together - but this test has shown that when players experience concussions, their voltage is about 50 percent of what it was when they first took the test.

“The objective here is to make sure that the brain is performing like it was before a kid returns to play,” says Baselyne Concussion CEO Tom Kinder.