Former Cal Poly football player wants to develop a tool to diagnose concussions. Here’s how
A Cal Poly graduate and former football player is working to develop a tool to easily diagnose one of the most common sports injuries: concussions.
Connor Heffler, who graduated Cal Poly in June with a degree in economics, launched startup ODIN Diagnostics during his senior year. His project team was investigating health problems, and numerous experts directed them to concussions.
Concussions are a common sports injury, particularly in football. The 2023 NFL season saw 219 concussions.
“We talked to everyone, from athletes to optometrists, and came back to the idea of concussions,” Heffler said in a news release Thursday. “We kept hearing, ‘concussions, concussions, concussions.’”
Now, Heffler is developing a tool that will detect sports-related brain injuries within minutes, according to the release. Engineering students Joshua Gottschalk, Seth Saxena and Marina Zellers are also working on the project.
Heffler is also working to commercialize the device with support from Cal Poly’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, which awarded the team seed funding. ODIN Diagnostics recently won a $15,000 award from the Center and was also awarded the top prize in the Center’s Innovation Quest last spring. The startup participated in a 12-week accelerator program with the Center last summer.
“It’s probably one of the best experiences I had at Cal Poly,” Heffler said in the release, “because you get to meet people and work with people that you don’t have the chance to in your economics classes.”
Heffler’s time as a Cal Poly football player helped fuel his passion for the cause.
“Football is a grind,” he said in the release. “You’re waking up at 5 a.m. The sun’s not even out, and then you’re out hitting heads on the field and putting your body on the line. It’s hard — and doing that consistently daily makes you tough. Now that I’m in the working world after graduating, everything feels easier.”
Associate economics professor Joseph Kuehn helped expose Heffler to the sports business industry, according to the release.
“He always sat in the front of class, asked questions, and was always engaged with the material,” Kuehn said in the release. “He was one of the more conscientious students I’ve had.”
Now, Heffler is fully focused on his startup and improving the world of sports medicine.
“I am fully committed to getting ODIN Diagnostics off the ground over the next years,” Heffler said. “It is something I am passionate about, and I will not stop until we have developed a more meaningful solution to solve problems in the concussion space.”
