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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a blood test for detecting/diagnosing concussions:
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today permitted marketing of the first blood test to evaluate mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), commonly referred to as concussion, in adults. The FDA reviewed and authorized for marketing the Banyan Brain Trauma Indicator in fewer than 6 months as part of its Breakthrough Devices Program.
Most patients with a suspected head injury are examined using a neurological scale, called the 15-point Glasgow Coma Scale, followed by a computed tomography or CT scan of the head to detect brain tissue damage, or intracranial lesions, that may require treatment; however, a majority of patients evaluated for mTBI/concussion do not have detectable intracranial lesions after having a CT scan. Availability of a blood test for concussion will help health care professionals determine the need for a CT scan in patients suspected of having mTBI and help prevent unnecessary neuroimaging and associated radiation exposure to patients.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Friday February 16 2018, @12:35AM (3 children)
It also needs to be fast. If it can be used on the sidelines of comtact sports, within ten or even fifteen minutes, dodgy calls by the coach (or the player themself) will become unnecessary.
We could, well, stop having games where recurrent blows to the head are acceptable, but the paying public seem to want the risk of permanent injury in sports.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday February 16 2018, @12:42AM
It may not be possible - those markers the test is detecting may require some time to reach a detectable concentration.
I'd say this approval is just waiting for the first false negative casualty to trigger a suit.
If it happens, I wonder who will take the brunt of it - the manufacturer or the approver (FDA)?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Interesting) by krishnoid on Friday February 16 2018, @12:46AM (1 child)
Even if it doesn't catch things in-game, I suspect they could add it to any drug testing they do, or to do it between games for all players, to catch cases where a concussion didn't make it to camera. Seems like systematic data on this (or the scent of a cover-up) would start changing things quickly.
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Saturday February 17 2018, @10:43PM
Searching for existing concussion data pulled up this study [nih.gov] and this study [nih.gov], but oddly, they were the only ones that popped up right away.