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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6823 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6823
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.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 17, 2025
Mrs. Trahan (for herself, Mr. Bacon, Mr. Keating, and Ms. McBride)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Armed Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. PILOT PROGRAM TO FACILITATE DEVELOPMENT OF CERTAIN TRAUMATIC
BRAIN INJURY DIAGNOSTICS FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES.
(a) Pilot Program.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, acting through the
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, shall establish a
pilot program to--
(1) assess the feasibility of providing support to eligible
entities engaged in the research, development, test,
evaluation, or production of covered diagnostic technologies
that may be procured by the Secretary and used in the diagnosis
of traumatic brain injuries among members of the Armed Forces
in connection with operational deployments, including in combat
zones;
(2) assess covered diagnostic technologies to determine--
(A) whether such technologies are capable of
distinguishing mild traumatic brain injury from
moderate or severe traumatic brain injury;
(B) how such technologies may be used with other
diagnostics or diagnostic aids for traumatic brain
injury (including neuroimaging biomarkers used in
computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging or
molecular imaging, blood-based biomarkers,
electrophysiological biomarkers, oculomotor tracking
systems, and environmental sensors);
(C) how such technologies may be integrated with
the detection of other indicators of physiological
deficit, to enhance the health, survival, and long-term
prognosis of members of the Armed Forces;
(D) how such technologies may improve military
readiness through the improved brain health of members
of the Armed Forces; and
(E) the extent to which such technologies may
address concerns regarding the growing medical burden
of traumatic brain injury by more accurately assessing
and quantifying acute exposure; and
(3) facilitate the research, development, test, evaluation,
and production of safe and effective covered diagnostic
technologies, including by facilitating the research and
development of new or updated manufacturing processes for such
technologies and the transitioning of such technologies from
the prototyping phase to the production phase.
(b) Designation.--The pilot program established under subsection
(a) shall be known as the ``Warfighter Traumatic Brain Injury
Diagnostics Project'' (in this section referred to as the ``pilot
program'').
(c) Activities.--The pilot program shall include--
(1) the conduct of research studies to make the assessments
specified in subsection (a), including studies conducted by, or
in consultation with--
(A) trauma, primary care, and traumatic brain
injury experts of the Department of Defense;
(B) emergency medical technicians of the
Department;
(C) members of the Armed Forces diagnosed with
traumatic brain injuries; and
(D) personnel of the Department who are experts in
the covered diagnostic technologies assessed under such
studies; and
(2) such activities as the Secretary determines may be
necessary to incentivize participation in such studies by
military medical treatment facilities, units of the United
States Special Operations Command, civilian level one trauma
centers, and such other entities as the Secretary determines
appropriate.
(d) Grants.--
(1) Award of grants.--In carrying out the pilot program,
the Secretary of Defense may award a grant to an eligible
entity engaged in the research, development, test, evaluation,
or production of covered diagnostics, consistent with
subsection (a)(3).
(2) Priority of awards.--In awarding grants under paragraph
(1), the Secretary shall give preference to an eligible entity
that the Secretary determines meets one or more of the
following criteria:
(A) The eligible entity has a demonstrated history
of researching, developing, testing, evaluating, or
producing a covered diagnostic technology.
(B) The eligible entity has a demonstrated history
of researching, developing, testing, evaluating, or
producing a covered diagnostic technology or other
related capability in the national technology and
industrial base (as such term is defined in section
4801 of title 10, United States Code).
(C) The covered diagnostic technology researched,
developed, tested, evaluated, or produced by such
eligible entity provides modularity to support diverse
applications.
(3) Use of grant amounts.--An eligible entity awarded a
grant under paragraph (1) may only use such grant amounts to
carry out one or more of the following activities:
(A) Conducting research, development, testing, or
evaluation activities to validate a covered diagnostic
technology (including through experimentation,
prototyping, or adapting such technology), to determine
or improve the potential operational use to the
Department of Defense of such technology, or to
integrate such technology with other technologies and
systems, including with respect to new or existing
pathways of care.
(B) Addressing manufacturing or other production
challenges relating to a covered diagnostic technology.
(C) Providing commercially available covered
diagnostic technologies to any Secretary of a military
department, or commander of a combatant command, to
support use assessments or other testing by members of
the Armed Forces.
(D) Building or strengthening relationships with
nontraditional defense contractors in the technology
industry that may be capable of providing unused or
underused solutions to specific operational challenges
of the Department relating to traumatic brain injury
diagnostics technology.
(e) Report.--Not later than 90 days after the date on which the
pilot program terminates under subsection (g), the Secretary of Defense
shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report on the
results of the pilot program. Such report shall include--
(1) a summary of the results of the pilot program;
(2) a determination of the Secretary regarding whether to
procure and adopt covered diagnostic technologies in addition
to tools already used by medical providers of the Department of
Defense to screen for traumatic brain injury at the point of
injury; and
(3) any recommendations of the Secretary regarding
necessary steps to promote the use of covered diagnostic
technologies that meet the needs of the Armed Forces, including
any legislative solutions that may be necessary.
(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated $5,000,000 to the Secretary of Defense for each of fiscal
years 2026 through 2029 to carry out this section.
(g) Termination.--The authority to carry out the program shall
terminate on September 30, 2029.
(h) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) The term ``congressional defense committees'' has the
meaning given that term in section 101(a)(16) of title 10,
United States Code.
(2) The term ``covered diagnostic technology'' means a
device that aids in the diagnosis of traumatic brain injury,
including by assisting clinicians in making such a diagnosis.
(3) The term ``civilian level one trauma center'' has the
meaning given that term in section 708 of the National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (Public Law 114-328; 10
U.S.C. 1071 note).
(4) The term ``eligible entity'' means--
(A) any entity organized under the laws of the
United States or any jurisdiction within the United
States; or
(B) any entity that is owned by an entity described
in subparagraph (A).
(5) The term ``nontraditional defense contractor'' has the
meaning given that term in section 3014 of title 10, United
States Code.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Armed Services.
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