brain organoid platform mild blast TBI research

Brain Organoid Platform Aims to Decode Mild Blast Traumatic Brain Injury in Military personnel

Traumatic Brain Injury: A Persistent Challenge for Military personnel

Traumatic brain injuries have remained a persistent issue among military personnel, with the Department of Defence reporting close to 516.000 cases globally between 2000 and 2024.

Johns Hopkins Launches POSITRONIC to Study mbTBI

A research team from Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, together with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, is developing a next-generation brain-organoid platform to tackle this challenge. Their study—Platform to Optimally Study Injury and TRauma On Neural Integrity and Circuitry (POSITRONIC), published in Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology—outlines the core principles of platforms designed for investigating low-level blast exposure.

Understanding Low-Level Blast Exposure

"The cumulative impact of low-level blast exposure remains poorly understood, largely due to our limited capacity to detect subtle effects on the human body—effects that may appear immediately but unfold gradually over time," said Katy Carneal, Assistant Programme Manager for Biological and Chemical Sciences at APL.

The Hidden Risk of Repeated Exposure

Low-level blasts produce pressure waves that travel through the skull and interact with brain tissue: repeated exposure can result in mild blast-induced traumatic brain injury (mbTBI). Military and low enforcement personnel may be exposed to over 100 such blasts during certain training exercises—and considerably more over the course of their careers.

Developing the POSITRONIC Prototype Platform

"Our aim is to create a prototype platform that will enable a deeper understanding of mbTBI caused by repeated low-level blasts, using advances in brain organoid technology and non-invasive optical imaging," said Eyal Bar-Kochba, Chief Scientist at APL's Research and Exploratory Development Department (REDD) and lead investigator for POSITRONIC. "We hope this work will contribute to the development of preventative strategies, as well as improved diagnostic and treatment approaches."

Future-Ready Technologies to Study Brain Trauma

Limitations of Traditional TBI Models

Researchers have traditionally employed in vivo models—studies conducted on live animals—and in vitro models, involving cultured cells in laboratory settings, to investigate traumatic brain injuries. Yet, applying these findings to human cases has proved difficult due to the limited relevance of such models to human biology.

Brain Organoids: A Transformative in Vitro Tool

Enter brain organoids—an emerging in vitro model based on human cells. One of their chief advantages lies in their capacity to replicate complex neural networks and cellular dynamics.

Johns Hopkins Team Leads the Charge

Neurotoxicologists Thomas Hartung and Lena Smirnova, of the Bloomberg School, were  instrumental in advancing organoid platforms for trauma research. The POSITRONIC team is leading efforts to apply these brain organoids in studying repeated low-level blast exposures.

Simulating Blasts with Precision

"This highlights the flexibility of organoids as a viable alternative to animal models, offering a platform for exploring yet another complex condition," said Smirnova, Assistant Professor at the Bloomberg School.

Cultivating and Testing Brain Organoids Under Blast Pressure

Once cultivated, the brain organoids is linked to a pressure-generation system that allows researchers to simulate repeated low-level blast exposure, mirroring the pressure commonly encountered by service personnel during training exercises.

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