‘Extraordinarily accurate;’ Groundbreaking research could help detect concussions with blood test

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania — Groundbreaking research could help detect concussions with a single finger prick.

Doctors are calling the research a game changer for athletes, our news partners at WPXI in Pittsburgh reported.

Basketball is a sport that Woodland Hills Junior, Troy Akins loves, but it doesn’t come without a potential for injury.

“We were at practice playing fives and I got elbowed in the head. It hurt for a second but it went away as my adrenaline was running,” Akins said.

But the next day he was dizzy and pulled from the game.

“I took a screening test, matching and memory type questions, am I dizzy did I throw up and after they say if I have a concussion or not,” Akins said.

>> ‘Life or death;’ Concerned drivers speaking out after their car sped up without them hitting the gas

Like many other High School athletes, Akins had a concussion. The process of diagnosing these traumatic brain injuries can be tedious.

New FDA approval for blood tests could be a game changer for the field.

“The Abbott i-STAT TBI blood test is extraordinarily accurate well above 95 percent in giving us concrete data about a patient with a concussion or traumatic brain injury,” Dr. David Okonkwo, the UPMC Director of Neurotrauma Program.

Ten years of research at UPMC has led to a new tool, one that could be seen in hospitals and urgent cares as early as this summer.

“We will expand the project to the pediatric population and gain a lot more clarity on the precise relationship to this test and athletes on the sideline and in the locker room and ultimately to get to the place where a blood test will tell us the best treatment of a concussion,” Okonkwo said.

Right now, the blood tests require a blood draw, but researchers are using grant money to create a finger prick that does the same test.

©2024 Cox Media Group