Center for Injury Science (CIS) Director Jan Jansen, MBBS, Ph.D., and Executive Director Shannon Stephens will lead a two-year, $2.8 million clinical trial funded by the Department of Defense.

The grant will fund the “Non-Invasive Monitoring of Traumatic Brain Injury Progression using the Infrascanner 1 (MOBI-1)” trial.

The Infrascanner is a hand-held, non-invasive device, which is FDA-cleared to detect traumatic intracranial hematomas. The purpose of MOBI-1 is to assess the device’s ability to monitor the size of hematomas, since hematoma expansion is associated with markedly worse outcome, and often requires a change in treatment.

The CIS Clinical Trials Unit (CTU) will work with nine other Level I trauma centers from around the country, which will enroll 400 trauma patients with intracranial bleeding. The UAB study will focus on using the Infrascanner to detect hematoma expansion.

“We are thrilled to be able to evaluate the role of this exciting new technology in detecting hematoma expansion,” said Jansen. “This may give us better options for monitoring patients with traumatic brain injuries.”

Other UAB faculty supporting the trial include Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery Professor John Holcomb, M.D., and Assistant Professor Jonathan Black, M.D.; Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery Associate Professor Joshua Richman, M.D., Ph.D., and Department of Neurosurgery Assistant Professor Elizabeth Liptrap, M.D.