{"id":21729,"date":"2020-10-29T15:43:35","date_gmt":"2020-10-29T15:43:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/10\/29\/this-study-is-recruiting-troops-for-mild-tbi-research\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T06:02:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T06:02:34","slug":"this-study-is-recruiting-troops-for-mild-tbi-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2020\/10\/29\/this-study-is-recruiting-troops-for-mild-tbi-research\/","title":{"rendered":"This study is recruiting troops for mild TBI research"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One of the main hurdles to diagnosing long-term damage<\/a> caused by mild brain injuries <\/a>is the fact MRI devices currently used in hospitals can\u2019t see the tiny changes that big jolts make in the brain. General Electric thinks it may have developed a special coil that can quadruple the detail of an MRI scan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To test it, GE wants to scan the brains of 120 service members, in hopes of developing a sort of mild TBI<\/a> blueprint that can help doctors diagnose these injuries more easily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we can dramatically improve the performance on the MRI scanner without significantly changing the power we need to drive it, that would be a major advantage,” Thomas Foo, GE\u2019s chief scientist of biology and applied physics, told Military Times on Tuesday. “If we can actually use that to look at traumatic brain injury biomarkers in a manner that could not be done previously, this would be a significant advancement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Experts have long believed that repeated concussions have lasting effects on brain structure and functioning, but there isn\u2019t a way to truly diagnose something like chronic traumatic encephalopathy<\/a> \u2015 made famous by research on the brains of deceased former professional football players \u2015 in a living person, because an MRI can\u2019t detect it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GE\u2019s MAGNUS coil, inserted in a clinical MRI scanner, is theoretically sensitive enough to detect disruptions in a brain and give doctors an image to work with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s about four times more powerful than existing MRI technology, Foo said, and upgrading existing machines amounts to just replacing a part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we are successful, what we hope to be able to do is to have this device be more accessible to everybody,\u201d Foo said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For now, though, the study is focusing on service members, with a five-year, $5.56 million grant from the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat was an area that we thought it could make an impact,\u201d he said<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While traumatic brain injuries have long been a focus of military medicine, the slow-burning, insidious mild variety has recently gotten more attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2018, the Center for a New American Security<\/a> released a report suggesting that relatively small, repeated blasts from shoulder-fired weapons \u2015 like the Carl Gustaf recoilless rifle or M72 light anti-tank weapon \u2015 could result in progressive, mild brain injuries that have the same kinds of behavioral and emotional impact as repeated concussions or an IED blast.<\/p>\n\n\n\t