To direct the Secretary of Defense to establish a pilot program to facilitate the development of certain traumatic brain injury diagnostics for members of the Armed Forces.
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill directs the Secretary of Defense, acting through the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, to establish a pilot program for traumatic brain injury diagnostics for members of the Armed Forces. The pilot must assess support for eligible entities engaged in research, development, testing, evaluation, or production of covered diagnostic technologies that may be procured by DoD for operational deployments and combat zones. It must examine whether technologies distinguish mild from moderate or severe TBI, integrate with neuroimaging biomarkers, blood biomarkers, electrophysiological biomarkers, oculomotor tracking, environmental sensors, and other indicators, and improve readiness through brain health. The bill authorizes $10 million annually for fiscal years 2026 through 2029.
Who Benefits and How
Service members benefit from faster and more accurate TBI diagnosis in deployment and combat settings. TBI diagnostic technology companies, medical device developers, and research institutions benefit from DoD pilot support and potential procurement pathways. Military clinicians benefit from better tools for distinguishing injury severity and integrating biomarkers. DoD readiness planners benefit if better diagnostics improve long-term brain health.
Who Bears the Burden and How
DoD health affairs staff must establish the pilot within 180 days, select eligible entities, assess technologies, and manage reports and funding. Diagnostic developers must meet military requirements and demonstrate feasibility. Federal taxpayers fund the $10 million annual authorization. Military medical evaluators must test whether technologies work with existing diagnostic aids and operational workflows.
Key Provisions
- Requires DoD to establish the Warfighter Traumatic Brain Injury Diagnostics Project within 180 days.
- Supports research, development, testing, evaluation, and production of TBI diagnostic technologies for service members.
- Requires assessment of technologies that distinguish mild, moderate, and severe TBI and integrate with biomarkers or sensors.
- Authorizes $10 million per year for fiscal years 2026 through 2029.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Requires DoD to establish a Warfighter Traumatic Brain Injury Diagnostics Project pilot within 180 days, supporting research, development, testing, evaluation, production, procurement assessment, reporting, and $10 million per year authorization for fiscal years 2026 through 2029.
Key Policy Areas
Defense, Healthcare, Research & Science
Primary Purpose
Requires DoD to establish a Warfighter Traumatic Brain Injury Diagnostics Project pilot within 180 days, supporting research, development, testing, evaluation, production, procurement assessment, reporting, and $10 million per year authorization for fiscal years 2026 through 2029.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- Service members
- TBI diagnostic technology companies
- Medical device developers
- Research institutions
- Military clinicians
Identified Costs
- DoD health affairs staff
- Diagnostic developers
- Federal taxpayers
- Military medical evaluators
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMrs. Trahan (for herself, Mr. Bacon, Mr. Keating, and Ms. …
Referred to the House Committee on Armed Services.
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
DoD health affairs staff, Service members
Positive-direction: Service members
Negative-direction: DoD health affairs staff
Military clinicians, TBI diagnostic technology companies
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology