Brainstorm Diagnostics

Concussion (known also as mild traumatic brain injury- mTBI) is the most common diagnosis of brain injury in the United States (over 3 million annually) as well as globally. Public awareness is most significant in sports related concussion. The diagnosis of a concussion is determined by clinical criteria, rather than a specific identified pathology. This lack of precision is reflected in the outcome after concussion, where 80% of individuals have a rapid recovery, in less than a week, but 20% have a delayed recovery that can last months, despite both groups having an identical clinical presentation. Imaging, either CT or MRI, has not provided a distinguishing signature to differentiate the groups but blood biomarkers that detect damage in the connections between brain cells, the axons, is very promising. In particular, a molecule known as spectrin N terminal fragment (SNTF), has shown to be highly predictive in separating the two populations when tested in clinical trials of athletes or concussed persons in ER settings within 72 hours of injury. Brainstorm was founded in 2023 to commercialize the use of SNTF for detecting individuals who have had axonal injury after concussion and are much more likely to have delayed recovery. The technology is patent protected with an exclusive license to Brainstorm from the University of Pennsylvania. The founders are two Penn faculty, Dr. Douglas Smith, a neuroscientist and director of the Center for Brain Injury and Repair and Dr. Sean Grady, former chair of the Department of Neurosurgery, and Dr. Matt Tormenti, CEO of Brainstorm and a neurosurgeon in private practice. We are part of the Penn UPstart program that helps faculty commercialize their research.