A new congressional proposal is aimed at filling a huge void that undermines the health of service members and veterans, the crying need for better medical diagnostic tools to identify hidden brain injuries.

Reps. Lori Trahan, D-Mass., and Don Bacon, R-Neb., introduced legislation in December to accelerate the development and deployment of advanced diagnostic technologies to improve the identification of traumatic brain injuries during training and in combat.

“Too many servicemembers are returning home with traumatic brain injuries that go undiagnosed or untreated because our diagnostic tools have not kept pace with the realities of modern warfare,” Trahan said.

“Our bipartisan bill helps close critical gaps in TBI diagnostics at the point of injury, improving readiness and long-term outcomes, Bacon said, discussing the proposed Improving Traumatic Brain Injury Diagnostics for Warfighters Act.

Traumatic brain injuries are a significant health problem, affecting 500,000-plus veterans since 2000. They can cause headaches, blurred vision, sleeplessness, irritability, anxiety, depression and much worse. The Department of Veterans Affairs has reported a strong link between multiple brain injuries and suicidal ideation. Indeed, the belief among some experts is that undiagnosed brain injuries help explain the high suicide rate among veterans.

The difficulty in spotting some military brain injuries means that the number of veterans and service members suffering in silence and undiagnosed could be substantial.

The proposed legislation seeks to provide greater precision in diagnosing a broad range of injuries. Military-related TBI includes the more overt injuries from projectiles penetrating the skull in warfare, but also from acute concussions and what is known as blast overpressure waves caused by weapons fire or explosions traveling faster than the speed of sound.

The proposal comes on the heels of a RAND Corp. study that found “critical gaps” in the government’s brain injury research for the military and that it requires better coordination to help mitigate the range of debilitating conditions.

“Despite its prevalence and the significant investments in research, efforts remain fragmented, which hinders collaboration and the translation of findings into practice,” the report found.

In particular, the study found that research to date has focused mainly on brain injuries among active-duty Army soldiers and veterans. However, it added, the government should place additional emphasis on researching brain injuries among Special Operations Forces, airmen, sailors and members of the National Guard or reserve, all of whom face high risk.

Nowhere is the effect of that fragmentation felt more keenly than in the dearth of diagnostic tools, despite $2.1 billion in private and government funds spent on military TBI research between 2015 and 2025.

The congressional proposal would address the lack of diagnostics by establishing a pilot program within the Department of Defense to support research into innovative TBI-detection devices and to transition them from prototype to field use. The goal is to develop tools that can accurately distinguish among the range of brain injuries suffered by the breadth of service members, a problem so profound that it was the catalyst for the creation of the Invisible Wounds Foundation.

To advance that mission, our military brain health collaborative is the first coordinated national effort to end research fragmentation. It unites researchers, universities, academic health centers, government agencies, industry and philanthropies under the aegis of rapidly developing brain injury diagnostics and therapies.

The brain injury threat looms over veterans, many of whom are left undiagnosed or untreated, and current service members, who are exposed daily to blast pressure in training. In both cases, for veterans and service members, the severity of the threat underscores the need to move quickly, because speed will save lives.

Shannon Finn Connell is the CEO of the Invisible Wounds Foundation. She wrote this for InsideSources.com.