{"id":168,"date":"2015-09-17T13:43:58","date_gmt":"2015-09-17T17:43:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/?p=168"},"modified":"2026-06-10T21:28:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T01:28:34","slug":"new-mri-coming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/new-mri-coming\/","title":{"rendered":"Could a \u2018Trojan Horse\u2019 Better Identify Traumatic Brain Injury?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Accurately diagnosing traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and concussions is difficult, as standard CT or MRI scans can\u2019t see most changes to the brain caused by these injuries.<\/p>\n

Clinicians must rely on patients accurately and candidly describing their symptoms, which many patients \u2013 such as soldiers and athletes \u2013 are hesitant to do for fear of being removed from action with their unit or team.<\/p>\n

Borrowing a tactic used to identify lung infections, University of Virginia School of Medicine researchers have discovered a potential method to identify TBI that uses positron emission tomography (PET) scans and the body\u2019s immune response to a brain injury.<\/span><\/p>\n

Backed by funding from the U.S. military\u2019s Defense Health Program, the UVA researchers \u2013 radiologist and neuroscientist James Stone, MD, PhD<\/u><\/a><\/strong>, and radiology researchers Stuart Berr, PhD<\/u><\/a>, Jiang He, PhD<\/u><\/a><\/strong>, and\u00a0Dongfeng Pan, PhD<\/u><\/strong><\/a> \u2013 presented their initial findings at the recent Military Health System Research Symposium.<\/p>\n


\n<\/strong>Why imaging misses most TBI and concussions<\/h3>\n

Existing clinical methods for imaging TBI are only able to identify alterations to the brain\u2019s structure at a macroscopic level, such as bruising, tissue tears or blood accumulation. However, most changes to the brain that result in TBI symptoms are typically only visible microscopically, either at the cellular or molecular level.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost people with concussions and TBI will have negative CT and MRI scans,\u201d Berr said.<\/p>\n

Without imaging that can identify brain injury at the microscopic level, clinicians largely have to diagnose concussions and TBI based on patients\u2019 description of their symptoms.<\/p>\n


\nIdentifying TBI with a \u201cTrojan Horse\u201d tracer<\/strong><\/h3>\n

To identify TBI, UVA researchers attached a compound similar to the radioactive tracers used to identify lung infections to the surface of neutrophils, a white blood cell that is part of the immune response to an injury. Previous research has shown that when TBI occurs, neutrophils target the injured area of the brain by passing through blood vessels that access cerebral spinal fluid.<\/p>\n

The compound hitchhikes on the neutrophils and travels with these cells to sites of injury, allowing researchers to see and identify brain injury on a PET scan. \u201cIt\u2019s like a Trojan horse kind of approach,\u201d Stone said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNeutrophils identify early inflammation in TBI, which could one day allow researchers to identify patients that might benefit from therapies targeting TBI-related inflammation,\u201d Stone added.<\/p>\n

The researchers are planning additional tests to ensure the safety of the compound, followed by clinical trials to examine the effectiveness of this technique for diagnosing TBI.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Accurately diagnosing traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and concussions is difficult, as standard CT or MRI scans can\u2019t see most changes to the brain caused by these injuries. Clinicians must rely on patients accurately and candidly describing their symptoms, which many patients \u2013 such as soldiers and athletes \u2013 are hesitant to do for fear of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":170,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[22],"class_list":["post-168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-news","tag-intranet"],"acf":false,"yoast_head":"\nCould a \u2018Trojan Horse\u2019 Better Identify Traumatic Brain Injury? - Radiology and Medical Imaging Research<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/new-mri-coming\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Could a \u2018Trojan Horse\u2019 Better Identify Traumatic Brain Injury? - Radiology and Medical Imaging Research\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Accurately diagnosing traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and concussions is difficult, as standard CT or MRI scans can\u2019t see most changes to the brain caused by these injuries. Clinicians must rely on patients accurately and candidly describing their symptoms, which many patients \u2013 such as soldiers and athletes \u2013 are hesitant to do for fear of […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/new-mri-coming\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Radiology and Medical Imaging Research\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-09-17T17:43:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-11T01:28:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/229\/2015\/09\/image_mini.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"151\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"School of Medicine Webmaster\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"School of Medicine Webmaster\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/med.virginia.edu\\\/radiology-research\\\/new-mri-coming\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/med.virginia.edu\\\/radiology-research\\\/new-mri-coming\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"School of Medicine Webmaster\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/med.virginia.edu\\\/radiology-research\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6e677950e11557f4c0506a2b00603569\"},\"headline\":\"Could a \u2018Trojan Horse\u2019 Better Identify Traumatic Brain Injury?\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-09-17T17:43:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-11T01:28:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/med.virginia.edu\\\/radiology-research\\\/new-mri-coming\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":419,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/med.virginia.edu\\\/radiology-research\\\/new-mri-coming\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/med.virginia.edu\\\/radiology-research\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/229\\\/2015\\\/09\\\/image_mini.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Intranet\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Research News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/med.virginia.edu\\\/radiology-research\\\/new-mri-coming\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/med.virginia.edu\\\/radiology-research\\\/new-mri-coming\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/med.virginia.edu\\\/radiology-research\\\/new-mri-coming\\\/\",\"name\":\"Could a \u2018Trojan Horse\u2019 Better Identify Traumatic Brain Injury? - Radiology and Medical Imaging Research\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/med.virginia.edu\\\/radiology-research\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/med.virginia.edu\\\/radiology-research\\\/new-mri-coming\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/med.virginia.edu\\\/radiology-research\\\/new-mri-coming\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/med.virginia.edu\\\/radiology-research\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/229\\\/2015\\\/09\\\/image_mini.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-09-17T17:43:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-11T01:28:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/med.virginia.edu\\\/radiology-research\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6e677950e11557f4c0506a2b00603569\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/med.virginia.edu\\\/radiology-research\\\/new-mri-coming\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/med.virginia.edu\\\/radiology-research\\\/new-mri-coming\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/med.virginia.edu\\\/radiology-research\\\/new-mri-coming\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/med.virginia.edu\\\/radiology-research\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/229\\\/2015\\\/09\\\/image_mini.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/med.virginia.edu\\\/radiology-research\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/229\\\/2015\\\/09\\\/image_mini.jpg\",\"width\":200,\"height\":151,\"caption\":\"Image of a glowing blue brain\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/med.virginia.edu\\\/radiology-research\\\/new-mri-coming\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/med.virginia.edu\\\/radiology-research\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Could a \u2018Trojan Horse\u2019 Better Identify Traumatic Brain Injury?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/med.virginia.edu\\\/radiology-research\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/med.virginia.edu\\\/radiology-research\\\/\",\"name\":\"Radiology and Medical Imaging Research\",\"description\":\"University of Virginia School of Medicine\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/med.virginia.edu\\\/radiology-research\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/med.virginia.edu\\\/radiology-research\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6e677950e11557f4c0506a2b00603569\",\"name\":\"School of Medicine Webmaster\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/892f3576ab4d29bd11981c3e45c61cbcf0ce3134064871521508e9a5c2450339?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/892f3576ab4d29bd11981c3e45c61cbcf0ce3134064871521508e9a5c2450339?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/892f3576ab4d29bd11981c3e45c61cbcf0ce3134064871521508e9a5c2450339?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"School of Medicine Webmaster\"},\"description\":\"I'm the webmaster.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/med.virginia.edu\\\/radiology-research\\\/author\\\/uvasomwebmaster\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Could a \u2018Trojan Horse\u2019 Better Identify Traumatic Brain Injury? - Radiology and Medical Imaging Research","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/new-mri-coming\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Could a \u2018Trojan Horse\u2019 Better Identify Traumatic Brain Injury? - Radiology and Medical Imaging Research","og_description":"Accurately diagnosing traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and concussions is difficult, as standard CT or MRI scans can\u2019t see most changes to the brain caused by these injuries. Clinicians must rely on patients accurately and candidly describing their symptoms, which many patients \u2013 such as soldiers and athletes \u2013 are hesitant to do for fear of […]","og_url":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/new-mri-coming\/","og_site_name":"Radiology and Medical Imaging Research","article_published_time":"2015-09-17T17:43:58+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-06-11T01:28:34+00:00","og_image":[{"width":200,"height":151,"url":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/229\/2015\/09\/image_mini.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"School of Medicine Webmaster","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"School of Medicine Webmaster","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/new-mri-coming\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/new-mri-coming\/"},"author":{"name":"School of Medicine Webmaster","@id":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/#\/schema\/person\/6e677950e11557f4c0506a2b00603569"},"headline":"Could a \u2018Trojan Horse\u2019 Better Identify Traumatic Brain Injury?","datePublished":"2015-09-17T17:43:58+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-11T01:28:34+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/new-mri-coming\/"},"wordCount":419,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/new-mri-coming\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/229\/2015\/09\/image_mini.jpg","keywords":["Intranet"],"articleSection":["Research News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/new-mri-coming\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/new-mri-coming\/","url":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/new-mri-coming\/","name":"Could a \u2018Trojan Horse\u2019 Better Identify Traumatic Brain Injury? - Radiology and Medical Imaging Research","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/new-mri-coming\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/new-mri-coming\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/229\/2015\/09\/image_mini.jpg","datePublished":"2015-09-17T17:43:58+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-11T01:28:34+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/#\/schema\/person\/6e677950e11557f4c0506a2b00603569"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/new-mri-coming\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/new-mri-coming\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/new-mri-coming\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/229\/2015\/09\/image_mini.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/229\/2015\/09\/image_mini.jpg","width":200,"height":151,"caption":"Image of a glowing blue brain"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/new-mri-coming\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Could a \u2018Trojan Horse\u2019 Better Identify Traumatic Brain Injury?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/#website","url":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/","name":"Radiology and Medical Imaging Research","description":"University of Virginia School of Medicine","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/#\/schema\/person\/6e677950e11557f4c0506a2b00603569","name":"School of Medicine Webmaster","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/892f3576ab4d29bd11981c3e45c61cbcf0ce3134064871521508e9a5c2450339?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/892f3576ab4d29bd11981c3e45c61cbcf0ce3134064871521508e9a5c2450339?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/892f3576ab4d29bd11981c3e45c61cbcf0ce3134064871521508e9a5c2450339?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"School of Medicine Webmaster"},"description":"I'm the webmaster.","url":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/author\/uvasomwebmaster\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1614,"href":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168\/revisions\/1614"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}