USC engineer Yasser Khan has won a 2026 DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) Young Faculty Award to develop a wearable patch for traumatic brain injury. This new patch would detect biomarkers of inflammation and neural damage, along with stress signals, using miniaturized chemical-sensing transistors. Such technology would give doctors a continuous picture that static CT or MRI scans can miss. Financially, this award will result in approximately $700,000 government backing over two years, though the financial assistance could potentially be up to $1.2 million.

While wearable brain injury detectors do exist, it appears that they measure force, not injury: Prevent Biometrics’ smart mouthguards has been mandatory in World Rugby, the international governing body for the rugby union, since 2024. Soldiers’ Blast Gauge sensors log impacts and blast pressure. Abbott’s i-STAT TBI blood test, BrainScope’s EEG and EyeBOX eye-tracking are one-time clinical checks. The continuous tracking of USC’s still to be developed patch is what makes it unique.

USC frames TBI patients as the beneficiaries, through DARPA backing and planned Defense Department approvals suggest military interest.