Athletic trainers and team physicians have an objective tool they can use to help decide when a student-athlete can return to action after a concussion, and one company is giving it away free to NCAA institutions.

CogState Ltd., an Australian research company, is offering Concussion Sentinel free to U.S. schools through the end of the academic year.

Concussion Sentinel is a computer testing system that measures a student-athlete's reaction times, memory and attention at both a baseline level and then again after injury through a retest. The test, which uses computerized playing cards, can detect even minute changes in cognition that might be the result of a concussion.

Several companies make similar neuropsychological testing products, and in its 2004-05 Sports Medicine Handbook, the NCAA states that such testing provides a reliable assessment of brain function, though further research in the area is needed. The Association advocates a systematic approach to concussion management, of which neuropsychological testing can be a part.

Other companies, including ImPact and HeadMinder, recently began marketing new neuropsychological testing software to the same markets. Both HeadMinder and CogState are Internet-based, while ImPact is a software system.

Alex Collie, senior scientist at CogState, said the company decided to offer it free to schools to raise the standard of care for student-athletes to the same level as that for professional athletes. Collie said he has worked with athletes at "elite levels" and says the standard of care for those athletes is "far superior" to the care received by high-school and college athletes.

CogState teamed with an Illinois-based protective sports equipment manufacturer to make the free offer. Julie Nimmons, owner of Schutt Sports, said the offer also will help the company get its product into the marketplace.

"Our hopes are that every college and high school will take advantage of this free offer and will test every single athlete," Nimmons said. "Unfortunately, head injuries and concussions are just a part of life and none of us know when we could experience one. It doesn't make any difference what sport you're playing."

James Moriarity, head team physician at the University of Notre Dame, has been using CogSport, a similar computer-based test also offered by CogState, for four years. Notre Dame officials started using the testing in their football and boxing programs but have since expanded it to student-athletes in a variety of sports, including ice hockey, softball and basketball.

Moriarity said most physicians are proficient at diagnosing concussions, but the computer testing is used in several circumstances, including confirmation of a suspected injury and allowing a doctor to be more certain that an athlete is truly ready to return to the playing field.

"It's a good tool, but it's a tool like any other. You can build a crummy house with a tool or you can build a mansion," Moriarity said. "It doesn't replace the physician.

"I've had more than one circumstance where I have felt an athlete is clinically ready and the test does not show it. I might wait two more days and they pass it with flying colors and I'm glad I waited."

The free offer is attractive to athletic training and medical staffs -- even Moriarity said he's taking advantage of the offer for the Notre Dame program.

Charlie Miller, head athletic trainer for football at Stanford University, said he had been aware of neuropsychological testing for a while, but when he found out Stanford was the only Pacific-10 Conference school not using a baseline testing program, officials decided to add that tool to their tool box.

Miller said the sports medicine department had relied, and will continue to rely, on the Stanford University Hospital neurology department, for significant concussion testing, though this software will mark the first use of baseline testing for the Stanford football players.

"Baseline is becoming the standard of care," Miller said. "The concern is how do we use the information we get. Getting the baseline and post-injury testing is the easy part. What is key is how the physicians integrate the information that comes back."

The free offer was the "motivating factor" prompting Stanford to go with Concussion Sentinel over other, larger companies with similar products. Miller said that because the program hadn't used any testing before, they had "nothing to lose" in evaluating the CogState product.

One thing Stanford will try to figure out this season is how much weight to give the testing in the formula used to determine when an athlete returns to the playing field.

Moriarity said he encountered no resistance from the coaching staff at Notre Dame when he implemented the program, though Miller said he anticipates some reluctance from coaches at Stanford who could be concerned that their players might be kept out of games longer.

"We're doing this for them, not to them, to increase the safety of their players," Miller said.

Student-athletes at Notre Dame, however, complained quite a bit, Moriarity said, and he discovered the loudest complainers often were the student-athletes who failed the test. Moriarity requires the test be retaken until passed.

Collie, creator of the program, said it is designed to virtually eliminate cheating -- athletes who try to deliberately score poorly on a baseline test in order to facilitate a quicker "return to normal" in the event of an injury. Collie said most athletes who attempt to circumvent the test exaggerate their poor performance. The test analysis can pick out who has cheated and who hasn't.

According to the CogState Web site, prices for individual baseline tests are $25 per athlete. Academic institutions can purchase tests at $650 a year for 150 students, $950 a year for 300 students and $3.15 for each test over 300. All retests after injury are free. Retests of individual baseline tests also are free.