Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI): FDA Clears Handheld Device for Early Detection

One more short TBI post before moving on. The FDA has approved the first handheld device to detect bleeding in the brain. Marketed by InfraScan, Inc, of Philadelphia, the Infrascanner™ is a mobile medical imaging system for detecting hematomas, or swelling of clotted blood, in the brain. The noninvasive device uses near-infrared (NIR) optical tomography and displays images on a normal portable digital assistant (PDA). Research on the unit was initiated and funded by the Office of Naval Research (ONR). Read the ONR press release, "Naval Technology Could be a Lifesaver." This news also led us to explore a couple TBI resources, BrainLine.org and the VA Polytrauma System of Care, both new to us and full of reliable information.

[Photo: InfraScan, Inc.]