PATTERN-RECOGNIZING EEG MONITORING DEVICE

CORTEKS, INC., PLANS TO DEVELOP AN AUTOMATED, LOW-TO-MODERATE-COST DEVICE FOR CONTINUOUS, REAL-TIME EEG MONITORING. EEG MONITORING IS DESIRABLE IN OPERATING ROOMS AND INTENSIVE CARE UNITS FOR RAPID DETECTION OF CHANGES IN NEUROLOGICAL FUNCTION, THUS PERMITTING IMMEDIATE INTERVENTION. EEG MONITORING IS ALSO USEFUL IN THE EVALUATION OF PATIENTS WITH EPILEPSY AND SLEEP DISORDERS. CONVENTIONAL PAPER EEG RECORDINGS ARE TOO CUMBERSOME AND DIFFICULT FOR THE NONELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHER TO INTERPRET TOBE PRACTICAL FOR USE IN CONTINUOUS MONITORING SETTINGS. A NUMBER OF EEG MONITORING DEVICES ARE COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE,BUT NONE HAS GAINED WIDESPREAD ACCEPTANCE. PRESENTLY AVAILABLE EEG MONITORING SYSTEMS DO NOT EMPLOY METHODS OF EEG ANALYSIS ADEQUATE TO UNAMBIGUOUSLY IDENTIFY SIGNIFICANT EEG PATTERN CHANGES AND ARTIFACT. CORTEKS, INC., PLANS TO DEVELOP AN EEG MONITORING SYSTEM THAT WILL OVERCOME THESE LIMITATIONS BY UTILIZING A COMBINATION OF INNOVATIVE ALGORITHMS, INCLUDING AUTOREGRESSIVE (AR) SPECTRAL ANALYSIS OF EEG AND PARALLEL DISTRIBUTED PROCESSING (PDP) NETWORKS. IN PHASE I, THE AR METHODS BEST SUITED TO EEG SPECTRAL ANALYSIS WILL BE SELECTED, AND THE FEASIBILITY OF EEG PATTERN AND ARTIFACT RECOGNITION USING PDP NETWORKS WILL BE DEMONSTRATED. IN PHASE II, THESE METHODS WILL BE OPTIMIZED,AND CUSTOM HARDWARE NECESSARY FOR COMMERCIALIZATION WILL BE DEVELOPED.