This weekend, some of the fastest motorcycle racers in the country will descend on the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio for the latest round of the MotoAmerica Championship.
The motorsports organization has added a new tool to its safety protocols: a rapid blood test that can detect traumatic brain injuries in as little as 15 minutes.
Dr. Carl Price is MotoAmerica’s chief medical officer.
Matthew Rand: Dr. Price, you're not just a physician. You're also a bike racer yourself of many years, and I understand you also have some firsthand experience with a severe concussion. Can you tell us a little bit about that experience and how that informs your current role?
Dr. Carl Price: Sure, yes, totally a rational hobby for a 66-year-old surgeon, a motorcycle racer. I unfortunately had a fairly significant concussion about three years ago, four years ago and I was knocked out. I was assessed with the standard concussion tools — something called SCAT tests and questions — and I passed them with flying colors. I don't remember the questions or the test. I don't remember much about the incident. And I had a very severe concussion. So, when I took this position, that was really what concerned me more than anything. Concussion is a clinical diagnosis. It's not until now, not really anything other than a clinical diagnosis and all the symptoms generally are self-reported. So, this new blood test has really been a game changer in terms of my ability to assess and diagnose concussions.
Matthew Rand: I understand this new blood test was developed by Abbott Laboratories and the U.S. Department of Defense, to help soldiers on the battlefield. How does it work?
Dr. Carl Price: Well, the test, as you said, has been around for a while. It used to take quite a long time to get the results, but Abbott Labs last year got approval from the FDA for a point-of-care test where you put a drop of blood on a little chip and plug it into this little computer, and it gives you an answer in about 15 minutes. And what we're doing is we're measuring two biomarkers. One of them is associated with nerve cells, the other is associated with the glial cells surrounding the brain.
The analogy I use is it's the brain cells are like an egg. You have the yolk and the white, which should be inside the egg unless the shell is damaged. These two biomarkers should be inside the cell unless the cell is damaged. So, you shouldn't find them in the peripheral blood. With this test, if we find them in the peripheral blood, it tells us that we either need to get a CT scan or not. Until now, everybody who had a concussion got a CT scan. And 93%-94% of the time, they're negative. So, it's really unnecessary. So, this really helps us kind of triage patients from that standpoint.
It's oftentimes difficult to convince athletes that they've had an injury, because they want to get out there and play and participate and compete. But this test, I can say, 'Look your brain is injured. You shouldn't be out there.' So, it's really a game changer in terms of my management of concussion.
Matthew Rand: How common are brain injuries in motorsports? And is that a reason why MotoAmerica decided to become an early adopter of this new screening tool?
Dr. Carl Price: Well, in all sports, concussion is very common. Although the most common cause of concussion is not sport, it's falls at home. And so, concussion is fairly common in society in general. And so, MotoAmerica in general is very concerned about rider safety and rider health. We want our riders to have a career after they get done with MotoAmerica. And so, this is one tool that we're using from that standpoint. And part of it is by personal experience that I had and how inadequate our current diagnostic and evaluation tools are for concussion.
Matthew Rand: Finally, can you tell us just a little bit about the event this weekend and what racing fans can expect?
Dr. Carl Price: Yeah, it's going to be a great event. We have, I think, 160 entrants this weekend. We have five different classes, including our superbike class, which are the fastest motorcycles out there. We have the bagger class, which are the big Harley Davidsons, which are really amazing. I would encourage everyone to come out. Our paddock is open so people can wander through the paddock and see the riders and they all have autographed posters and all that kind of stuff that they can give, so it's a great event for family and friends.
