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An Orange County sports business says it has made an advancement in detecting one of the most significant injuries suffered by athletes: concussions.
Irvine-based MotoAmerica, in conjunction with Abbott Laboratories, developed a new rapid blood test that could be conducted on the sidelines of sporting events with results completed within 15 minutes.
Dr. Carl Price, MotoAmerica’s chief medical officer, said the sports medicine breakthrough could improve how athletes are medically treated, especially when it comes to concussions.
“I think this test is going to revolutionize concussion (treatment),” Price told the Business Journal.
MotoAmerica can check for concussions by drawing blood almost immediately and is implementing its concussion care advancement in the world of motorcycle racing.
The MotoAmerica medical team would draw blood from a rider almost as soon as he or she suffers an injury. The results would be available within 15 minutes, and the medical team could evaluate whether the rider has a concussion or any other serious injury.
The results are valid for 24 hours and could be used to determine whether an athlete needs a CT scan of their head.
MotoAmerica earned Food and Drug Administration clearance for the i-STAT TBI cartridge in 2024.
Price said the testing device could be used to “convince a rider they have a serious injury”—concussion or otherwise.
Price said, by way of example, that one rider came off the track and mentioned he had the “breath knocked out” of him. He waived medical attention because he didn’t think anything else was wrong.
Price, however, erred on the side of caution.
“I can do the test. I can say, ‘Hey, look, your brain was damaged, and you shouldn’t ride,’” Price told the Business Journal.
Military Testing Impetus
One possible hiccup with the on-the-spot testing: the prospect of an athlete not wanting to know whether they have a concussion, because they want to keep playing.
“Do the athletes really want to know,” Price pondered. “My goal at MotoAmerica is not to keep riders off the track, my goal is to get them back out there as quick as I can and perform at their best.”
Price added the blood test came about when the Department of Defense, after 9/11, wanted to determine whether American military members suffered from concussions on the battlefield.
The blood that is drawn from an athlete or member of the military is processed by a small chip. That chip feeds into a machine that can deliver results within minutes.
He described the MotoAmerica blood testing technology as “lab on a chip.”
“This test, as approved today, is approved to determine whether a CT scan is needed or not,” Price said. “In my situation, it’s very helpful because if the test is positive, they most likely have a brain injury. So, instead of just sending them to the local hospital to do a CT scan, I am going to send them to a center that has a neurosurgeon available.”
MotoAmerica’s CMO said the blood test would have greater value outside of sports.
“Only 3% of concussions occur in sports,” Price said. “97% of concussions occur because of gravity: falls, car wrecks, that kind of stuff.”
He added the MotoAmerica approach to testing for concussions could eventually become the standard for determining head injuries at basketball, football or soccer games.
“One of these devices is going to be on the sideline,” Price said. “It’s going to be the standard of care, in my opinion.”