A concussion is no joke. We’re talking about a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) that can seriously impact your vision, memory, sleep, mood and overall health. And yet, more than half of people who suspect they have one do not get it checked.

That’s why health care professionals follow a concussion assessment process to evaluate head injuries. The stakes are just too high to leave them undiagnosed.

The good news is there’s a new technology on the block that could fundamentally change this process to make it more efficient.

Case in point: Our FDA-cleared i-STAT TBI test cartridge using whole blood enables this testing technology to be used right at the patient’s bedside and provide more clarity about an injury.

Below, we’ll lay out the current concussion assessment process and highlight how our first-of-its-kind testing technology fits in.

First Steps: You’ve Hit Your Head and Need to be Assessed

• Stop and take a breath. Don’t try to go back to what you were doing.
• Take a moment to assess and check for concussion symptoms, including headache, blurred vision and trouble balancing. If the symptoms are severe, seek emergency help.
• Usually, an assessment will start with a healthcare professional asking a series of questions.
• You’ll be asked about your symptoms and the nature of the injury. Try to write information down beforehand or tell it to someone who can accompany you.
• After that, you’ll most likely be assessed on a scale such as the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS).

After You Are Assessed

• If a concussion is ruled out based on the GCS: It’s likely that further testing is not necessary.
• If a concussion is suspected based on the GCS: You could be referred for advanced imaging, such as a CT scan, to confirm the diagnosis.
• In either case, listen to your doctor’s recommendations carefully, ask follow-up questions and follow any instructions you get.

How New Technology Fits In

New testing options could change the way concussions are assessed, and that could have big implications for the future.

Our i-STAT TBI test cartridge makes it easier for doctors to say whether you need a CT scan or additional evaluation. Here’s how it works:

• Our i-STAT TBI test cartridge runs on a portable, hand-held instrument, and can be used in emergency rooms, urgent cares and even nursing homes.
• When you experience a hit or blow to the head, there are two proteins found in your brain that are then released into the bloodstream. Those proteins are called biomarkers.
• With just two drops of blood, our test can detect those biomarkers to help a clinician understand if your brain has been injured.
• The test produces lab-quality results in approximately 15 minutes.
• Because the test is run on a portable instrument, it can be conducted at the patient’s bedside.

It’s an important step toward a future where testing could be done outside traditional healthcare settings.

“This has enormous implications for sideline testing of concussions in athletics. It has enormous implications for what we can do in military health,” said David Okonkwo, director of the neurotrauma program at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

“And it could radically change what we can do in emergency rooms, in urgent care centers and primary care offices all over the world.”

Concussions happen a lot more frequently than people seem to think. Each year in the U.S., 5 million people go to the ER with a suspected TBI — and 95% happen to everyday people as a result of trips, slips, falls and bumps to the head.

The more we can educate one another on the concussion assessment process and how biomarker testing can play a key role, the better.

The i-STAT TBI test cartridge was developed in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Defense U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command's (USAMRDC) U.S. Army Medical Materiel Development Activity (USAMMDA). The USAMRDC has been dedicated to developing a solution for the objective detection and evaluation of TBI for more than two decades and has played a critical role in developing the TBI cartridge on Abbott’s i-STAT Alinity platform.

The Transforming Research and Clinical Knowledge in Traumatic Brain Injury (TRACK-TBI) research team was the first to demonstrate how this whole blood test can be used for the benefit of suspected TBI patients in clinical care.