- The US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) on 14 February approved ‘Banyan Brain Trauma Indicator’ (BBTI), the first-ever blood test for concussions.
- The approval means marketing authorization for the test which can be now sold commercially.
- The test was developed by private biotech firm, Banyan Biomarkers. –
- This test can be used to test for mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI, more commonly called a concussion).
- This test can slash the number of unnecessary medical imaging procedures that people with head injuries have to take.
- The Brain Trauma Indicator can help determine whether a person needs a computed tomography, or CT, scan to detect a suspected mild traumatic brain injury or concussion.
- Since the head CAT scans expose the patients to the radiation equivalent to 21 chest x-rays which can cause an increase in the possibility of subsequent cancer in the patient, especially in children. Hence the new test can prevent many patients from going through the unnecessary CT scan.
