Officials at Adventist Health Bakersfield unveiled a new tool to quickly and accurately detect possible concussion in patients.
BrainScope is now available at all Kern County Adventist Health hospitals. This new FDA-approved tool will allow medical staff to accurately detect concussions in a patient without the time, money, and radiation required for a CT scan.
The press release is below:
Did you know nearly 5 million people go to an Emergency Room (ER) for head injuries and concussions each year? That means more people go to the ER for head injuries than stroke and heart attacks combined – which is why Adventist Health is so excited to be the first hospitals on the West Coast to offer new technology that can make significant positive impacts for patients who experience a brain injury.
The ERs at Adventist Health in Bakersfield, Delano and Tehachapi have launched BrainScope® technology, an FDA- cleared assessment device that detects the likelihood of both a brain bleed and concussion. Anyone suspected of a brain injury, including concussion, can now be triaged with this specialized technology at any Adventist Health hospital in Kern County.
“This is another exciting milestone for Adventist Health,” says Daniel Wolcott, president of Adventist Health Kern County. “Our mission calls us to find the best ways to serve the nearly 1 million residents living in Kern County so that we can improve the health and well-being of as many people as possible – this new BrainScope® technology helps us do just that.”
For the physicians who care for patients at Adventist Health facilities, it’s always a good thing to add a new tool to the arsenal of providing quality healthcare.
“The BrainScope® device measures and interprets brain electrical activity and brain function, letting our healthcare team objectively assess the full spectrum of a brain injury, including concussion,” says Dr. David Riggs, Chief Medical Officer for Adventist Health Delano and Adventist Health Tehachapi Valley. “BrainScope can aid in identifying the likelihood of a brain bleed without exposing the patient to the radiation associated with a CT scan. We can also determine concussion status and severity—something a CT (computerized tomography) scan can not provide. BrainScope is the future of assessing brain injuries and unlike anything else available today.
“We are very proud that Adventist Health has selected BrainScope for use in its Emergency Rooms to triage patients who present with mild traumatic brain injuries. BrainScope is the only FDA cleared medical device that in less than 20 minutes can rapidly and accurately detect the likelihood of a brain bleed or concussion without needles or radiation,” said Susan Hertzberg Chief Executive Officer at BrainScope. “In clinical practice, BrainScope has demonstrated the ability to reduce the use of head CT by up to 55%.”
