Scientists from Children’s Health Research Institute and Western University have developed a new blood test that identifies with greater than 90 per cent certainty whether or not an adolescent athlete has suffered a concussion.
Diagnosis of a clinically significant concussion, or a mild traumatic brain injury, can be difficult as it currently relies on a combination of patient symptom assessment and clinician judgement. Equally problematic are the decisions to stop play or activities, or when patients who have suffered a concussion can safely return to normal activities without risking further injury.
In the new study, researchers have demonstrated that a blood test can now accurately diagnose a concussion using a form of blood profiling known as metabolomics. Dr. Douglas Fraser, a physician in the Paediatric Critical Care Unit at Children’s Hospital, London Health Sciences Centre and Lawson Health Research Institute scientist, led the study with his co-investigator Mark Daley, a professor in the Departments of Computer Science, Biology and Statistics & Actuarial Sciences at Western University.
In the relatively inexpensive test, blood is drawn from an individual that may have suffered a concussion as the result of a sudden blow to the head (or from transmitted forces from a sudden blow to the body) within 72 hours of the incident. The scientists measure a panel of metabolites – small molecules that are the products of the body’s metabolism – in the blood to search for distinct patterns that indicate a concussion has occurred.
The technology is subject to a patent application by Lawson and Western.
The full press release is availabe from Lawson Research, whilst the research results are available at Metabolomics.
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