A handheld portable device could be more effective than a CT scan in detecting mild traumatic brain injuries (TBI), according to a new study published in The Lancet Neurology. Because it is capable of detecting brain injuries within 15 minutes, as well as injuries that CT scans miss, this new technology may help fill a gap in emergency rooms, sporting events and the battlefield—by identifying patients who might otherwise have gone undiagnosed. The TBI Diagnostic Challenge More than 4.8 million people in the U.S. visit emergency rooms each year to be evaluated for brain injury. To detect brain injuries, doctors currently utilize physical examinations, CT scans and screening questions for cognitive and neurological symptoms. MRIs are more precise and can pick up injuries that physical exams and CT scans miss. Thus, some 30% of patients who had a normal CT scan were found to have signs of TBI when they were tested via MRI. But while MRIs are more accurate, they are not available at all hospitals. They are also relatively slow and considerably more expensive than CT scans and blood tests. Because of the limitations of current tools for detecting brain injuries, it is estimated that half of concussions go undetected […]