Neuromonitoring of Traumatic Brain/blast Injury

It is well known that the brain is the organ most sensitive to ischemia/hypoxia. Noninvasive continuous monitoring of cerebral blood flow autoregulation, cerebrovascular reactivity and related phenomena such as cerebral vasospams in combat casualties could guide clinicians/medics in adjusting the strategy of resuscitation and acute care, and therefore contribute to a substantially improved survival and functional outcome. In Phase I we developed a small (3.5 x 2.5 x 0.7 in), light-weight (<4oz), battery powered and hand-portable 3-channel monitor that combines electro- and rheoencephalography (EEG and REG). While REG detects changes in cerebral vascular bed, EEG can be used to detect post-traumatic non-convulsive seizures or reversible breakdown of the synaptic transmission. The monitor can transfer the data in real time via either a Bluetooth link or standard USB connection. The monitor also has sufficient memory to store the raw data from>300 hours of recording. In Phase II we propose to ruggedize the Phase I monitor so to make it truly field-deployable, and to in part directly organize, and in part support, a number of animal and human studies (including a study on TBI patients) that should provide evidence of the efficacy of the monitor.