Orlando Health Orlando Regional Medical Center (ORMC) is the first hospital in the world to use a new, groundbreaking blood test to help assess patients with suspected mild traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), or concussions. The rapid TBI blood test provides results in just 15 minutes and was developed by Abbott, in collaboration with the Department of Defense, and built upon innovative research that Orlando Health's Dr. Linda Papa and others helped pioneer over 20 years ago.
According to the National Institutes of Health, traumatic brain injury from accidents or sports is a leading cause of death and disability in the United States. And the CDC estimates that 2.5 million people visited the emergency department for TBIs in one year.
Nearly 25 years ago, Dr. Papa noticed as an emergency medicine physician that doctors had blood tests to help diagnose and treat conditions for many major organs like the heart, liver and kidneys. But there was no blood test for the brain.
She was inspired by her patients to find a way to blunt the impacts of TBIs through science, and her research and body of work reflect her dedication to helping patients with TBIs. This is why it is particularly noteworthy that Orlando Health, led by Dr. Papa, will be the first hospital system in the world to roll out Abbott's i-STAT TBI blood test.
With this new test at their fingertips, Orlando Health emergency room physicians can now more quickly assess patients during those critical moments when every second co.