Boxing officials in the United Kingdom are closely monitoring trials of a handheld brain scanner by London air ambulance for ringside use, according to Sky News, a British television station. The scanner can detect potentially fatal brain damage in just a few minutes. The device can spot blood clots in the brain, which left untreated, can lead to disability or death.

The Infrascanner works simply: It shines red for blood clots and green for normal. It has the potential to save lives. (Courtesy of InfraScan Inc.)

The brain scanner uses infrared light like that in a television remote control. The light beam penetrates the skull up to three centimeters. An area of the brain with a blood clot absorbs light differently than normal brain tissue. Blood outside of vessels absorbs the near-infrared light more than blood contained in vessels. This is because of the fact that there is a higher concentration of hemoglobin in an acute hematoma than in normal tissue where the blood is within the vessels. The message is then delivered back to the scanner, where a green light means normal, and a red light means a blood clot is present.

The trials with London air ambulance began in late 2015. The device has ninety percent accuracy in a hospital setting, where a CT scan was used to confirm the diagnosis of a blood clot. The company that produces these scanner devices is called InfraScan. The device is approved for sale in Europe in general and the United Kingdom in particular, President & CEO, InfraScan Inc. Baruch Ben-Dor, PhD told us in an email. The equivalent of the FDA, CE Mark, approved it almost four years before they received FDA clearance.

The device received approval for marketing from the FDA in the United States in January 2013. The InfraScan technology scans for intracranial bleeding, identifying those patients who would most benefit from referral to a CT scan or neurosurgical intervention. The Infrascanner Model 2000 was developed in conjunction with the United States Navy and Marine Corps.

(Courtesy of InfraScan Inc.)

In March 2014, the U.S. Marine Corps agreed to implement the use of the Infrascanner Model 2000 equipment in their trauma kits. The Marine Corps also partially funded the research InfraScan has done. The Office of Naval Research, BioAdvance, the Biotechnology Greenhouse of Southeastern Pennsylvania, the Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania, and the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation have also funded the company’s research.

The British boxing authorities looking into using this device are under extreme pressure after Scottish fighter Mike Towell lost his life last month from brain bleeding and swelling.  At the moment, doctors assess brain injury of boxers by shining a light in their eyes and asking them questions to see if they are confused or not. But some injuries might not show right away, which is where this device might become useful.

In moderate to severe TBI, the hour after an injury is called the “golden hour” because it is critical in diagnosis as intracranial hematomas can end in death or disability. Instead of wasting precious time by waiting an hour before reassessing, the tool will show if there is a brain bleed within a few minutes. The diagnosis and then rapid transportation to a hospital with CT scan and neurosurgical capabilities is essential to maximize survival.

Gordon Johnson

Attorney Gordon Johnson is one of the nations leading brain injury advocates. He is Past-Chair of the TBILG, a national group of more than 150 brain injury advocates. He has spoken at numerous brain injury seminars and is the author of some of the most read brain injury web pages on the internet.

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