A Blood Test for Brain Injury Reaches the Front Line. Here Is Why It Matters.

Reviewed by Marc Ó Gríofa, MD, PhD, Chief Medical Officer, Neurova Labs

In July, the Army reported that medics with the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command in Europe are fielding a handheld TBI blood test that can return a result in about 15 minutes. A medic draws blood, places a drop on a cartridge, and the analyzer measures two brain-specific proteins that rise after a brain injury. Lt. Col. Bradley Dengler, neurosurgery consultant to the Army Surgeon General, called it “probably the single most important advancement in traumatic brain injury care in the last 15 to 20 years.”

We agree that this is a big step, and it deserves attention beyond the medical community.

Why does an objective TBI blood test matter?

An objective TBI blood test matters because a blood sample can’t be gamed the way a memory-based screen can, and because it can keep trained crew members with their unit. For years, the frontline screen for a suspected brain injury has been the Military Acute Concussion Evaluation, a standardized set of memory and concentration tasks. It is widely used, and it depends on the person taking it. Col. Jessica Peck, the 10th AAMDC command surgeon, told the Army that some special operations personnel have memorized the word lists and can “beat” the test.

The operational case is just as strong. According to the article, about 68 percent of people evacuated from frontline positions for head CT scans over two decades in Iraq and Afghanistan were ultimately returned to duty. Dengler credits biomarker testing with preventing roughly 13 tactical evacuations across Central Command in 2021 and 2022. Every avoided evacuation keeps a trained crew member with the unit and keeps an aircraft free for someone who needs it.

Why did the Army start with air defense crews?

Air defense formations operate in small, dispersed teams, often hours from a CT scanner, running specialized systems where one missing crew member affects the whole team. It is the same reach problem we see in National Guard formations far from any installation. Peck described the stakes plainly: “These jobs demand extremely high cognitive performance,” including coordination, emotional regulation, spatial awareness, and decision-making.

That sentence is worth holding on to. The blood test answers one question quickly and objectively: is there an injury that needs care? Everything after that answer belongs to military medicine. For the majority of crew members who never need that test, and for those cleared to stay in the fight, a second question sits in the background every day: is the crew as cognitively sharp as the mission requires?

Are objective measures becoming the standard in military health?

Yes. In military health, the direction of travel is toward data that does not depend on how someone feels, or wants to look, on the day of the test. The Army’s move from a self-reported screen to a biological measure fits that pattern. We saw the same shift when the Pentagon moved to replace its 1984-era cognitive test, and when GAO found that brain health monitoring is short on capacity. We expect that standard to spread from detection into readiness and training.

Neurova Labs builds for the readiness side of that picture. Neurova Academy is a facilitator-led cognitive training program designed to support focus, stress regulation, and decision-making under load. It runs at the unit, offline, in about a square meter of space per participant, with no clinical infrastructure required. It is general wellness training for healthy crews. It does not detect, prevent, or treat brain injury, and nothing in it replaces a medical evaluation.

How does the Army’s TBI blood test compare with the CoreSignals Panel?

The two tests measure different things for different purposes, and they share no markers. Programs that want a physiological measure alongside self-report can add the iXpressGenes CoreSignals Panel, an optional blood panel run through a CLIA-certified, CAP-accredited laboratory. Because both are blood tests, readers sometimes ask how the two relate.

• What it reads. Army test: two brain-specific proteins, GFAP and UCH-L1, that enter the blood after a brain injury. CoreSignals Panel: RNA gene expression across 22 inflammatory and immune markers in whole blood.

• The question it answers. Army test: is there a brain injury that needs care right now? CoreSignals Panel: how are inflammatory and immune signals associated with stress changing over the course of a training program?

• Timing. Army test: a single draw, with a result in about 15 minutes at the point of care. CoreSignals Panel: draws before and after a program cycle, analyzed at the lab.

• Who uses the result. Army test: military medics and the neurosurgeons they consult, to guide triage and evacuation. CoreSignals Panel: program teams tracking a wellness program. It is never used for diagnosis.

Keeping the two distinct is part of using each one well.

What should happen next?

The Army should scale this capability as fast as cartridge logistics allow, and we hope it does. Refrigerated cartridges held at Role 1 sites, with forward medics able to reach neurosurgery expertise remotely, is a practical model for dispersed formations.

We also hope the same thinking reaches readiness. Units already expect objective data before a Soldier returns to the fight. That expectation can apply to how a crew trains its thinking before the fight, too.

To bring Neurova Academy to your unit, visit neurovalabs.com.

About Neurova Labs

Neurova Labs is a veteran-led neurotechnology company based in Salt Lake City. Its program, Neurova Academy, is a facilitator-led neuro-immersive brain training program designed to support focus, stress regulation, and mental endurance, with no clinical infrastructure required. Programs can add an optional 22-marker panel measuring RNA gene expression from whole blood, processed by iXpressGenes, a CLIA-certified, CAP-accredited laboratory. Neurova Labs works with military units, first responder agencies, clinics, and community organizations. Learn more at neurovalabs.com.

Media contact: nathaniel.free@neurovalabs.com.

Neurova Academy is a general wellness and cognitive training program. It is not a medical device and is not offered to diagnose, treat, cure, or mitigate any disease or condition, including concussion, traumatic brain injury, or CTE. Laboratory testing provided by iXpressGenes, a CLIA-certified, CAP-accredited laboratory. References to news reporting and government publications are for commentary only and do not imply endorsement of Neurova Labs by the Department of War, the Department of the Army, or any federal entity.