BrainScope’s Objective Concussion Assessment Technology Showcased
BrainScope’s Objective Concussion Assessment Technology Showcased at NFL Owners' Meeting
Boca Raton, FL. – March 22, 2016 – BrainScope Company Inc., a privately held neurotechnology company with an initial focus on traumatic brain injury (TBI) and concussion assessment, was one of a handful of companies featured at the NFL Annual Meeting today in Boca Raton, Fla.
BrainScope’s technology appeared in the NFL’s “Vision 20/20 Tech Lab" along with a collection of new technologies that are helping to enhance the game of football for the players, coaches and fans across all levels of football.
BrainScope is both an original recipient and Grand Prize Winner of the Head Health Challenge I, a part of the Head Health Initiative, which is a collaboration between the NFL, GE and Under Armour to advance the development of technologies that can detect early stage mild traumatic brain injuries and improve brain protection.
“The Head Health Initiative is advancing the understanding of brain trauma, which is fundamental to protecting players and enhancing the game of football," said BrainScope CEO Michael Singer. “These awards have significantly helped support our Company to develop a device that will revolutionize objective head trauma assessment. We are particularly honored to be featured by the NFL at its Annual Meeting this week with their significant focus and attention to this important health issue."
BrainScope’s disruptive medical technology will change the way head-injured patients are assessed and managed giving clinicians – for the first time – a comprehensive, objective and accessible view of who can stay in a football game, and if pulled, when they can return. The company’s technology is on track to be the first fully FDA-cleared, integrated and objective system used to immediately and objectively assess patients for all forms of TBI – from concussions to bleeds in the brain.
“We believe the medical device we are creating is a game changer for concussion assessment and those who are diligently working to minimize brain injury risk in football," Singer said. “It combines the power of software, ‘big data’ and signal processing to provide a comprehensive solution for the full spectrum of brain injury including concussion. Our handheld technology can be used anytime, anywhere – from hospital emergency rooms to football stadium locker rooms – giving clinicians an objective analysis in real time to inform an accurate diagnosis."
Approximately 100 million people worldwide experience a TBI annually. It is estimated that 90 percent of TBIs are concussions. Currently, the state of concussion diagnosis is ineffective, leaving the clinician with only subjective assessment tools that patients easily and often “game" so they can continue to play. While CT scans can rule out a bleed in the brain, they do not help the physician diagnose concussion. In fact, according to a recent article in the Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, of the 5 million people who receive a CT for head injury in U.S. Emergency Departments annually, over 90 percent are CT negative, exposing patients to harmful radiation and unnecessary procedural costs.
“The current state of TBI and concussion assessment is a throwback to how cardiovascular disease was diagnosed in the 1960’s and 1970’s, heavily based on subjective report of symptoms," said Dr. Leslie Prichep, BrainScope’s Chief Scientific Officer. “The result is that our healthcare system does not have adequate methods to aid in objective diagnosis and treatment planning, putting millions of athletes, soldiers, workers and children at risk of serious consequences for those improperly diagnosed."
BrainScope’s medical technology uses an off-the-shelf Android device and proprietary disposable electrode headset. It collects recordings of brain electrical activity and other vital patient-specific data. The technology utilizes classification algorithms created from sophisticated signal processing methods based on a large database of injured and non-injured patients. With novel and patented technologies, the BrainScope device provides a full panel view of the state of the brain after injury.
About BrainScope
BrainScope is a medical neurotechnology company that is developing a new generation of handheld, easy-to-use, non-invasive instruments designed to aid medical professionals in rapidly and objectively assessing various neurological conditions, starting with traumatic brain injury including concussion. The company has completed 20 clinical studies at 55 locations, with its technology featured in 15 peer-reviewed articles in leading scientific and medical publications. The Company has received nearly $30 million of Department of Defense contracts and other grants to conduct its scientific research. It is backed by Revolution (created by AOL co-founder Steve Case), Shaman Ventures, ZG Ventures, State of Maryland Venture Fund, Brain Trust Accelerator Fund, and Difference Capital. BrainScope devices in development are based on a proprietary technology platform, which integrates databases of over 6,000 brainwave recordings with advanced digital signal processing, sophisticated algorithms, miniaturized hardware and disposable headset sensors. The Company holds over 100 issued and pending patents on its technology. In May 2015 the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared the company’s Ahead 200 device, which uses commercial smartphone hardware leveraging Google’s Android operating system and a custom sensor to record and analyze a patient’s electroencephalogram (EEG) after head injury. BrainScope devices under development, including the Ahead 300 and the Ahead Concussion Assessment System, for assessment of traumatically-induced structural head injury and concussion are for investigational use only. For more information, please visit www.brainscope.com.
Contact: Eric Hoffman
P: (202) 585-2808
E: ehoffman@powelltate.com
