Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 10 No. 5 | May 2018

inside.hokiesports.com 43 for a particular patient presenting to the emergency room with a history of head trauma. “The brain is the most complex organ in the body, and we don’t have a blood test for it,” he said. “And it’s the only organ in the body that we don’t have a blood test for. When you’re making a clinical diagnosis, you want to have as much information as you possibly can. The problem with a concussion is that the blood test is missing.” Until now. In August of 2013, a company named Banyan Biomarkers, with headquarters in San Diego and Alachua, Florida, approached VCOM, the Virginia Tech Sports Medicine office and the Virginia Tech Biomedical Engineering Department about joining a pilot project that called for the creation of a biomarker panel of the brain—and offered to provide much of the funding. Without getting too technical, biomarkers may consist of molecules, cells, tissues or other body fluids and can be used to see if a patient has a particular disease or condition— in this case, concussion. Banyanofficials knewabout Tech’sworkwithhelmets and concussions and realized Virginia Tech’s involvement made a lot of sense after visiting the athletics facilities and VCOM’s research labs. After all, Brolinson and Dr. Stefan Duma, a professor of biomedical engineering and sciences at Virginia Tech, along with Mike Goforth, who serves as the AD for sports medicine, had been studying helmet safety and concussions for 15-plus years. With head coach Frank Beamer’s blessings, they had been using Tech’s football players to collect information, so they possessed mounds and mounds of research on the topics. Brolinson and his team wholeheartedly agreed to be a part of the project, and they started compiling data on several biomarkers. The data from the pilot project was used in part to create a large multi- site international project, with doctors/researchers from all over the world compiling data—all with the hopes of formulating a blood test that would help to determine if a CT scan was needed for a patient with head trauma and to assist in the diagnosis of a concussion. Carilion—a huge supporter of and partner with Virginia Tech Athletics— jumped into the mix as well. Brolinson and administrators and doctors at Carilion New River Valley Medical Center in nearby Radford used emergency room patients with a history of head trauma as test cases to gather information. All told, these researchers, including Brolinson and those helping him, examined and amassed information from more than 2,000 subjects. After more than three years spent researching and gathering information, Brolinson and the group found two proteins that leak into the blood stream within minutes of a blow to the head—and thus they created a blood test that searches for those proteins. The group submitted all their findings to the FDA for approval, and 10months later, in February, the FDA granted that approval for the marketing of the test. “Now that this test has been FDA approved, a lot of manufacturers can get behind it because they know there is money to be made,” Brolinson said. “If we develop the test kit that allows this test to be done rapidly, accurately, and inexpensively … that’s who is going to win. That’s the next thing that is to happen. I don’t know if it’s going to be a year, 18 months or two years, but now that it has FDA approval, there is going to be a rush of people to try to develop the device that is going to be the most successful test kit.” The test represents a win on so many levels. Obviously, it gives doctors an accurate diagnosis, but it also eliminates the need for so many CT scans, which in turn results in a cost savings for the patient. Plus, fewer CT scans means less exposure to harmful radiation, particularly for children. Emergency rooms figure to receive the first of the test kits, but those who work in sports medicine— like Goforth—want the test kit on the sidelines of sporting events as soon as possible. Right now, though, they will need to be patient. The test itself, in its current form, takes 3-4 hours to administer and requires a lab. A sure diagnosis of a concussion helps, but obviously sports medicine staffs want a concussion diagnosis sooner than 3-4 hours. Essentially, they want to find out right away. For example, they seek a way to administer a test to a football player during a game if he takes a blow to the head and find out the results immediately to get him back in competition, or hold him out of competition in the event of a positive diagnosis. “We are still not where we need to be yet on this topic,” Goforth admitted. “We need to develop this technology to the point that we can do a simple finger prick test on the sideline to determine if a concussion did actually occur. This would be huge because it would eliminate the guessing game about a return to play and would hopefully all but eliminate the possibility of an athlete returning to play with a concussion.” Continued on page 44 revolutionary blood test for CONCUSSIONS IHS extra Dr. Gunnar Brolinson and Mike Goforth, Tech’s associate AD for sports medicine, have played instrumental roles in concussion research since 2003.