Toshiba partners with UCI to study potential brain damage in HS football players

Toshiba (TYO:6502) said yesterday it is partnering with the University of California, Irvine to study possible brain damage incurred in high school football players.

The study is the 1st-of-its-kind investigating cerebral microbleeds as a potential precursor to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, and will operate using Toshiba’s Vantage Titan 3T magnetic resonance imager as the main diagnostic tool, the company said.

“This study presents an opportunity to determine how Toshiba’s MRI equipment can be used by healthcare providers to safely and effectively diagnose serious brain trauma or CTE earlier than ever before, which could ultimately impact a patient’s quality of life in the future. We are proud to have the researchers using Toshiba’s Vantage Titan 3T MR system to establish these potential markers of CTE, which speaks to Toshiba’s commitment to partnering with healthcare providers to identify the right imaging solutions to complex clinical situations,” Toshiba clinical collaborations director Eugene Mensah said in prepared remarks.

Toshiba said the study will explore the use of non-contrast MRI as a noninvasive method for examining young athletes and other patients for early signs of CTE, which has been documented as a consequence of sub-concussive head injuries.

The study is slated to evaluate local high school student volunteers and enroll up to 100 high school football players and 50 control subjects. Toshiba said it will provide MRI equipment application training to the UCI researchers in the study.

“There have not been extensive studies of CTE in younger populations to date, so we see this as an important opportunity to examine if there are precursors or early signs that can lead to better diagnosis and treatment. Using Toshiba’s Titan 3T MR system, we may have an effective way to examine how playing football is affecting these subjects, and we hope to break new ground in diagnosing and treating head trauma before it can potentially cause problems for these athletes in the future,” study lead researcher Dr. Mark Fisher of UCI said in a press release.

Toshiba said the Vantage Titan 3T MR was chosen because of its ability to perform non-contrast neuro-imaging, including its Pianissimo noise-reduction tech as well as its ability to determine the prevalence of CMB using flow sensitive black blood sequences.

Last month, Toshiba said it inked a deal to sell its medical device business to Canon (NYSE:CAJ) for $5.9 billion, as the U.S. Justice Dept. and the SEC probed the accounting practices in its U.S. businesses, and today said it plans to lay off an additional 3,000 workers.

A week earlier, Toshiba granted Canon exclusive negotiating rights to buy Toshiba Medical after a hotly contested auction

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