A BEAM of light could help doctors detect traumatic brain injury in patients even before they display symptoms – using just a sample of the patient’s blood.
The technique involves firing light into the blood (put into a special chip) to detect a chemical (biomarker) that is released by brain cells after an injury. The test, which researchers from Birmingham University say is highly accurate, also reveals the severity of the injury.
Currently doctors often rely on making a subjective judgment about whether a patient has a brain injury – for instance, from the patient’s verbal responses.
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