"Every year in Europe three million people are admitted into hospitals for suspected mild traumatic brain injury mTBI cases. Yet  of these patients will be able to return home safely as no trauma has been detected. Today the only reliable diagnosis is the CT Scan which is only available in some hospitals and in addition to being expensive exposes patients to radiations. Researchers from the University of Geneva UNIGE in collaboration with the Hospitals of Barcelona Madrid and Seville have developed a small device  PointofCare Test POCT  that analyses the level of proteins in the blood and allows using a single drop of blood to diagnose the possibility of a mild traumatic brain injury. This discovery described in PLOS ONE will not only relieve emergency departments free patients from often long waits but also save on costly medical examinations. Falling whilst skiing tumbling down the stairs or getting hit on the head can cause symptoms such as blurred vision vomiting loss of consciousness or memory for about  minutes. There is then a risk of mild cerebral trauma which represents more than  of brain injuries admitted to hospitals. But is there really a brain lesion Or are these symptoms merely the consequence of the violence of the shock of which will ultimately only leave a bump behind Today the injured patients have to go to the emergency rooms of hospitals equipped with a CT Scan an expensive examination that sends Xrays to the brain to detect the presence or absence of brain trauma. As their case is not a priority it often takes a long time for the majority of patients to return home without risk of sequelae except for bad memories. Find biomarkers for light traumas We wondered if it was possible to isolate certain proteins whose presence in the blood increases in the event of mild traumatic brain injury explains JeanCharles Sanchez professor at the Department of Internal Medicine of Specialties and the Biomarkers Centre of the Faculty of Medicine of the UNIGE. Our idea was to find a way to do a quick examination that would allow during a boxing or American football match for example to determine whether the athlete can return to the field or if his condition requires hospitalization. The opposite of the CT Scan an exam that lasts a long time and cannot be done anywhere he adds. During a shock on the head some brain cells are damaged and release the proteins they contain increasing their level in the blood. Scientists at UNIGE and Spanish hospitals then compared the blood of patients admitted for mild traumatic brain injury but diagnosed as negative with that of patients actually suffering from a brain lesion. Using proteomic analyses which can quantify thousands of proteins simultaneously and observe variations in their levels in the blood they gradually isolated four molecules indicating the presence of a brain injury HFABP Interleukin SB and GFAP. We have noticed that the HFABP level alone makes it possible to confirm that there is no risk of trauma in one third of patients admitted after a shock enthuses JeanCharles Sanchez. The rest of the patients will have to undergo a CT scan to confirm the diagnosis. TBIcheck the light brain trauma detector It was still necessary to develop a device that could be used everywhere quickly and simply and that could be available in pharmacies or sports halls. When a person has an accident in the mountain few practices can do a CT Scan notes the Geneva researcher. His team has developed a rapid diagnostic test POCT called TBIcheck inspired by the principle of pregnancy testing by placing a single drop of blood on the well of a small cm plastic case the patient knows within  minutes whether there is a risk of mild trauma namely whether or not his HFABP level is higher than . nanograms per millilitre of blood. If a lane appears the injured person must go to a hospital for a CT scan if there is nothing he can go home safely JeanCharles Sanchez says. In case of doubt when reading the result a small reader the Cube Reader can be installed on TBIcheck. It will display the word positive or negative and send the result to the patients or caregivers smartphone via Bluetooth. No more doubts Commercialization planned for beginning  These results patented by UNIGE and awarded the Prix de lInnovation Academy in December  will be marketed from  by ABCDx a startup founded four years ago by JeanCharles Sanchez of UNIGE and Joan Montaner of Vall dHebron Hospital in Barcelona coauthors of this study. Today our research shows that the results are even more accurate when we combine HFABP and GFAP levels continues JeanCharles Sanchez. We are currently preparing an even more effective TBIcheck which will allow  of patients to be sent home but which requires an increase in the sensitivity of the test that receives the blood. ABCDxs ultimate goal is to bring to market biomarkers capable of diagnosing brain trauma stroke and aneurysms. Biomarkers are a mine of information on patients state of health it is up to us to decode them concludes the Geneva researcher."