Concept · brain injury · finger-prick

Was that hit a brain injury?

After a head injury, proteins from damaged brain cells leak into the blood at a few picograms per milliliter. Today that takes a vein, a tube and a lab or a hospital analyzer. Our concept reads them from one finger-prick, on the sideline, in the field or at home.

How it sees through blood Partner with us

Illustration

Try it · seeing through blood

A concussion panel from one drop of blood.

Brain-injury proteins such as GFAP and UCH-L1 circulate at extremely low levels after a head injury, often a few picograms per milliliter. That is why every FDA-cleared brain-injury blood test so far needs serum or plasma processed in a laboratory, or a venous blood draw at the bedside. A finger-prick at home or on the sideline has been out of reach.

Blood background in the readingHigh

Signal-to-backgroundLow

Illustration of time-gated detection; real decay times depend on the reporter and reader.

Today · laboratorySerum or plasmaVenous blood is drawn, spun down and run on a lab analyzer. Sensitive, but it needs a lab and takes time.

Today · hospital bedsideVenous whole bloodA handheld analyzer cleared in 2024 runs blood drawn from a vein into a tube, with results in about 15 minutes.

Our concept · home and field60 µL finger-prickA self-filling microfluidic cartridge separates plasma on the chip, and time-gated crystal reporters pull the faint signal out of whole blood in 10 to 20 minutes.

PrickA standard finger lancet.
TouchBlood wicks into the inlet. No pipette.
Self-fillThe cartridge meters exactly 60 µL.
InsertInto the compact VCSEL reader.
ReadSix capture spots measured, time-gated.
ShareAn app shows the trend and can alert a clinic.

Concept in development with NovaVera, not a cleared product. The marker list is a design target; any home use would require clinical validation and regulatory clearance.

Try it · run the panel

One drop. Two strips. One clearer call.

Choose a patient. Strip A asks whether brain cells are being injured. Strip B adds the context: bleeding and clotting risk, and the body-wide inflammation that changes triage. The reader turns twelve numbers into four readouts.

Strip A · 6 linesAcute brain injury

Proteins released by damaged brain cells.

GFAP–

UCH-L1–

S100B–

Total tau–

NfL–

NSE–

Strip B · 6 linesComplications and context

Bleeding, clotting, heart strain and inflammation.

Troponin–

D-dimer–

IL-6–

CRP–

Ferritin–

MCP-1–

Illustration with invented patients and values, relative to each marker's decision level (white line). Not clinical guidance and not a cleared device.

Where it matters

Decisions that cannot wait for a lab.

Most head injuries happen far from a hospital analyzer. A finger-prick panel would give the first number at the moment the decision is made: stay in the game, go home, or go for a scan.

Sports

The sideline

A number alongside the concussion protocol before a player returns.

Defense

The field

Blast and impact exposure screened far forward, with trends tracked over a deployment.

Emergency

The ambulance and ER

Triage support for who needs a CT scan, with bleeding and inflammation context from strip B.

Home and care

Falls in older adults

A quick check after a fall at home or in a care facility, shared with a clinician.

Partners wanted

One drop of blood. A clearer call after a hit.

We are looking for neurology, sports-medicine, defense and diagnostics partners to validate a finger-prick brain-injury panel.

Start a conversation Email NovaVera

All diagnostics programs

One reporter. People, animals and the environment.

See the overview and readiness map →

Intelligent Material Solutions invents the crystals and holds the intellectual property; NovaVera Corp. makes and sells them under an exclusive license. The field-proven lateral-flow tests are for research use only. Everything marked in development or concept is not a cleared medical, veterinary or environmental test; any product would need validation and, where required, regulatory clearance.