Orlando Health ORMC first in the world to use new blood test for traumatic brain injuries

ORLANDO, Fla. — A new blood test to help assess patients with suspected mild traumatic brain injuries or concussions is now being used right here in Central Florida. Orlando Regional Medical Center is the first hospital in the world to use it.

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The i-STAT TBI test was developed in collaboration with Abbott, the U.S. Department of Defense U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command’s (USAMRDC) and U.S. Army Medical Materiel Development Activity (USAMMDA). Patients will know their results in just 15 minutes.

“This is a game changer,” Dr. Lina Papa, the Director of Academic Clinical Research at Orlando Health, said. “Really a game changer.”

She’s worked to find a blood test to diagnose brain conditions for 25 years.

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“We have blood test for every organ injury, over every organ in the body,” Dr. Papa said. “We never had a blood test for brain injury. But that’s changed.”

Now being used at bedsides at ORMC, the i-STAT TBI test provides results in just minutes by checking a patient’s blood for two biomarkers that may be present after suffering a brain injury.

“When you suffer a TBI your brain gets jostled,” Dr. Papa said. “It causes damages, damage to your cells, your brain cells. These bio markers are released into the blood stream.”

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Right now, CT scans are the most common way to diagnose brain injuries. Dr. Papa said those are time-consuming and expensive.

She thinks the TBI blood test can save lives before a patient ever steps in a hospital by testing them in an ambulance or on the sidelines of a sporting event.

The i-STAT TBI test could cut down on the need for CT scans and provide even greater use in the future.

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“We’ll be able to use this test to actually diagnose a concussion,” Dr. Papa said. “To determine whether a patient needs a certain kind of treatment. To develop new treatments for brain injury.”

Just like adults, kids are susceptible to concussions or TBI too. That’s why doctors are working right now to evaluate this exact test in children.

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