BrainScope Company, Inc. today announced that it has received an award from GE and the National Football League (NFL) to further enhance its portable concussion assessment system by combining imaging biomarkers with its brainwave technology. In 2013, GE and the NFL created the $10 million Head Health Challenge I competition to award entrants for proposals focusing on "identifying breakthrough technologies and approaches that will improve the diagnosis and prognosis of mild traumatic brain injury (TBI)." The sixteen recipients of the award, including BrainScope, were announced today in New York.
Under this Head Health Challenge Award, BrainScope will collaborate with the Purdue Neurotrauma Group to conduct a study in collegiate athletes leveraging the BrainScope EEG-based technology, combined with neuroimaging tools, to augment its field-deployable system with an aim of providing enhanced traumatic brain injury detection and return to play decisions. While assessment of patients with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) has been shown to be sensitive to TBI, they are not well-suited for sideline usage or field deployment.
"There is a great need for mdical devices that can help clinicians rapidly and objectively assesses TBI, including its most mild forms, at the point of care," said Michael Singer, President and CEO of BrainScope. "We are honored to receive this award from GE and the NFL, and are very pleased to be working in collaboration with the Purdue Neurotrauma Group, whose research on mild traumatic brain injury biomechanics and the underlying pathophysiology has been pathbreaking."
With 74 issued and pending patents, BrainScope's technology features a handheld, non-invasive device intended to aid medical professionals in rapidly and objectively assessing whether an individual has likely suffered a TBI, including concussion. In collaboration with the U.S. Department of Defense, BrainScope has conducted more than five years of independent studies in hospital emergency departments, as well as in college and high school sports venues. These studies have helped to develop a comprehensive database of over 4,000 brainwave recordings for the creation of sophisticated classification algorithms that quantify and characterize features of brain electrical activity associated with TBI. These classification algorithms are integrated into a handheld, rapid, easy-to-use, non-invasive and non-radiation emitting device. BrainScope devices under development are for investigational use only.
"The Purdue Neurotrauma Group is greatly looking forward to adding a new focus to our prospective studies, working with BrainScope to determine new and powerful means of early identification of brain changes associated with repetitive head injury," stated Thomas Talavage, Professor at the Purdue University Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering and School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. "Such advancement holds great promise for prevention and early intervention to reduce short- and long-term risks for millions of Americans on an annual basis."
The winners of the NFL Head Health Challenge I, including BrainScope, each receive a $300,000 award to advance their work. In addition to the award, GE and the NFL will monitor their progress during the next year and provide mentorship and access to GE researchers and industry thought leaders with the opportunity for up to six of the awardees to win an additional $500,000 award in 2015.
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