SBIR/STTR Award attributes
PROJECT ABSTRACTThe electroencephalogramEEGis a sensitive and well established tool for detecting disturbances in brain functionEEG recordingseven as brief as just a few minutescan potentially provide useful information for patients with neurological or neuropsychiatric disordersHowevermost patient care settings are not able to offer EEG services due to the lack of equipment or personnel with the required expertiseAs a resulttimely evaluations are not performedat times resulting in long delays in evaluationdiagnosisand treatmentThereforethere is a great need to develop an EEG acqusition system that can be used in any clinical settings by any caregiversThe overall goal of this SBIR project is to develop and commercialize an EEG acqusition system so that each cliniceven in a remote locationcan offer EEG service for patients who might benefit from a timely assessment of their brain functionSpecificallywe propose to developvalidateand commercialize an EEG recording and assessment systemBrainViewthat is compactinexpensiveand easy to use by non EEG techniciansBrainView will consist ofasystem EEG electrode capEEG Nowthat can be easily placed on a patient s head by any medical caregiveranda portablehandheld EEG recording machineCereScopeequipped with an LCD user interface and built in software that analyzes EEG signals and generates an output as to whether the EEG contains an abnormal patternIn additionCereScope will have the capability of transmitting EEG recordings to a cloud based server for timely expert review and interpretationOther than its use in clinicswe envision that BrainView can also be used for preliminary assessment of brain function in various sports settings and for military battlefield useCereScope has been fully developed and is currently undergoing multi center clinical studies in ambulatory patients and in patients admitted to either an Epilepsy Monitoring Unit or an Intensive Care UnitSBIR Phase IIB project supported by NINDSHencethe focus in this Phase I project will be on the feasibility of the EEG electrode capEEG Now and to validate a newly developed EEG abnormality assessment algorithm that will be installed on CereScope to be a part of the proposed BrainView systemThe specific aims of this Phase I project areSpecific AimTo demonstrate that non EEG trained personnel at a concussion clinic or a general neurology clinic can record technically satisfactory and interpretable EEG recordingsminuteswith the proposed BrainView systemSpecific AimTo demonstrate that the proposed EEG assessment algorithm can identify EEGs containing abnormal slowing activities or epileptiform discharges with high sensitivityand satisfactory specificitySuccessful commercialization of the BrainView system will significantly increase the utility and patient population of EEG diagnosisOther than its use in clinical settingswe envision that BrainView can also be used for preliminary assessment of brain function in various sports settings and on military battlefields PROJECT NARRATIVEThe diagnosis and treatment in many patientsespecially those who live in remote locationswith head injury or neurological disorders are often delayedmainly due to the lack of availabilitytrained personnel and equipmentfor aminutes EEG diagnosisa non invasivesensitiveand well established brain function assessmentThe primary goal of this project is to test a novel EEG acquisition system that can be easily made avaiable for any patient that could benefit from an EEG diagnosisThe overall goal is to improve the diagnosis and treatment of patients suffering from neurological disordersparticularly in community hospitals where EEG trained neurologists may not be available
