Handheld Point-of-Care Test Aims to Enable Rapid Coagulation Assessment in Trauma

Severe blood loss and inadequate tissue oxygenation are leading causes of preventable death after traumatic injury. Blood products are essential in trauma care, but cold-chain storage, short shelf life, and donor supply constraints complicate their use in military, first-responder, and resource-limited settings. To support timely bleeding assessment in these environments, a handheld diagnostic platform aims to provide rapid coagulation testing from a single drop of blood.

Abram Scientific (Menlo Park, CA, USA) has received a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) contract of up to $8.3 million to advance CoagCare for trauma settings, building on a separate $2 million DARPA contract awarded in October 2025 to support system miniaturization. Both awards support work under DARPA’s Resuscitation and Prevention of Ischemia-Induced Dysfunction program, which is developing a shelf-stable blood analog system alongside rapid point-of-care diagnostics to guide its use.

Within this program, CoagCare combines a compact meter with a single-use diagnostic test card to assess whole-blood coagulation near the patient. The system uses proprietary technology to measure blood’s viscoelastic properties and density, allowing it to characterize the coagulation process from initial clot formation through clot breakdown, or lysis. It is designed to provide this comprehensive assessment in less than 10 minutes.

This intended turnaround addresses a limitation of conventional coagulation technologies, including thromboelastography and thromboelastometry, which can require 30–60 minutes to complete a measurement. Alongside faster testing, CoagCare’s compact, portable, vibration-insensitive design is intended to support operation in environments where conventional testing may be difficult to perform. These include ambulances, MEDEVAC helicopters, and remote or austere settings where rapid coagulation assessment could help guide trauma care.

The new funding will support further development toward U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance for civilian patient blood transfusion management during trauma and surgical procedures. Abram Scientific stated that CoagCare is not yet cleared by the FDA for marketing in the United States. To support eventual deployment, the contract will also fund manufacturing capabilities for both the meter and disposable test card, together with development of a military-focused design that uses the same disposable card as the civilian configuration.

“Rapid access to actionable coagulation information can be critical for saving lives in trauma care, when every minute matters. This DARPA award recognizes the importance of bringing laboratory-quality coagulation information closer to the patient and supports our efforts to develop a platform that can ultimately serve both military and civilian medicine,” said Abhishek Ramkumar, CEO, Founder, Abram Scientific.