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FDA approves first ever blood test for traumatic brain injuries

According to Health.mil, the official website of the U.S. Military health system, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has green-lit a revolutionary new blood-test that can detect the presence of traumatic brain injuries.

Florida-based Banyan Biomarkers, with funding from the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Army, created the blood-test, which they have trademarked as the Brain Trauma Indicator (BTI). The test was designed to detect two specific protein markers; Ubiquitin Carboxy-terminal Hydrolase-L1 (UCH-L1) and Glial Fibrilliary Acidic Protein (GFAP).

Research has shown that both UCH-L1 and GFAP appear in the blood at elevated levels up to twelve-hours after a head injury that is significant enough to cause bleeding in the brain.