Head Health Challenge Develops Tech to Diagnose, Prevent Traumatic Brain Injury

Seven multidisciplinary research teams have been awarded $500,000 each to continue to advance their research and development of brain-saving technologies as part of the Head Health Challenge, a joint initiative backed by the National Football League, Under Armour, and General Electric.

The initiative, which launched in March 2013, is an open innovation challenge to accelerate brain injury research, diagnosis and protection and includes a four-year, $40 million research and development program from the NFL and GE that will evaluate and develop imaging technologies to improve the diagnosis of traumatic brain injury.

The first installment of the challenge, which focused on the diagnosis and prognosis of mild traumatic brain injuries, awarded nearly $10 million to 16 research teams and biomedical companies in January. Some of the group’s advancements included a blood test to identify and measure TBI, an imaging technique that identifies broken connections in the brain and on on-field EEG.

The winners of the second challenge primarily are focused on technology to diagnose and protect against brain injury. The teams are eligible to win an additional $1 million in funding upon reevaluation of their advancements for commercialization potential and on-field impact.

Click through to read more about and watch video of the Head Health Challenge II winners and their innovative ideas:

• Army Research Laboratory
• University of Washington and VICIS, Inc.
• Emory University and Georgia Institute of Technology
• UCLA and Architected Materials, Inc.
• University Of Miami Miller School Of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and Neuro Kinetics, Inc.
• Viconic, Inc.
• Erik Swartz, PhD, University of New Hampshire