Ask your competent? doctor EXACTLY what this is testing for and can it be used in stroke diagnosis? Especially since young adult strokes are often misdiagnosed!
young adult strokes (83 posts to December 2012)
Abbott’s rapid blood-based concussion test is off to the races
Abbott’s rapid, blood-based test for concussions is making its sporting debut through the motorcycle racing series MotoAmerica, marking the first professional organization to deploy the screener at its competitions.
The cartridge-based test for mild traumatic brain injuries—which claimed an expanded clearance from the FDA last year—runs on Abbott’s hand-held i-STAT Alinity instrument and is designed to deliver a result within 15 minutes.
It will be kept on-hand for the on-site healthcare professionals at each U.S. event for the 2025 season, starting with this past weekend’s superbike and other races at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
“This is the first ever objective test that physicians have had at the point-of-care to assist in the assessment of concussions—it changes the game,” MotoAmerica’s chief medical officer, Carl Price, said in a statement. “If a crash or fall does happen, the ability to quickly and objectively determine whether or not a rider needs a CT scan or additional evaluation, right there on-site, provides us—and our riders—with peace of mind.”
The test takes only a few drops of whole blood collected from a standard venous draw, and measures two brain-specific protein biomarkers that are released and detectable in the 24 hours following an injury.
When it was first cleared by the FDA in 2021, the test required blood samples to be spun in a lab centrifuge. New green lights expanding its use came in 2023 and 2024, with the latter allowing the use of untreated whole blood, though the test still needs to be performed by trained medical staff.
“As both a neurologist and licensed physician, I know firsthand the limitations of relying on a subjective tool like the Glasgow Coma Scale in the assessment of brain injury,” said Beth McQuiston, a medical director in Abbott's diagnostics business.
“The ability to objectively assess the need for a head CT scan following potential brain injury right at the point of care, whether that be at a hospital bedside or an on-site medical facility at a sporting event, means quick assessment and a quick path to the right treatment,” McQuiston added.
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