SURREY, British Columbia, Canada, Oct. 10, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Brain researchers in Surrey, British Columbia have made a breakthrough in successfully achieving the next step towards establishing the world’s first brain vital sign framework.
Neuroscientist Dr. Ryan D’Arcy and his team of brain researchers recently utilized advanced brain imaging technologies to confirm the world’s first brain vital signs framework for monitoring cognitive processing, with the findings published in the Journal of Translational Medicine.
The findings show that brain vital signs, an investigational framework which takes advantage of low-cost electroencephalography (EEG), is comparable to traditional brain imaging technologies such as high-density magnetoencephalography (MEG) for monitoring cognitive processing.
“The development of brain vital signs represents an essential advance to monitor brain health,” says Dr. D’Arcy, a neuroscientist and President and Chief Scientific Officer of HealthTech Connex Inc. “We wanted to bring the most advanced laboratory capabilities to all people who need them through the brain vital signs framework, which is a more rapid, automated, and user-friendly approach.”
In this latest peer-reviewed study in the Journal of Translational Medicine, Dr. D’Arcy’s team benchmarked the brain vital signs EEG evaluations of the N400 response, an established neural marker for cognitive processing, against the very best in brain imaging technologies using lab-based MEG techniques.
The scientific study explains that an established neural marker, the N400 response, can be utilized as an objective measurement for cognitive processing in individuals with brain diseases or injuries. For instance, the N400 response has been identified as an important physiological marker of cognitive decline in patients as they progressed from mild cognitive impairment to dementia.
However, using traditional lab-based techniques to evaluate the N400 response require hours in highly specialized and restricted laboratory settings, whereas the brain vital signs framework is a faster and less complicated technique, which opens up the development of fully accessible testing for practical clinical use.
“The results confirmed that the N400 evaluated within the brain vital signs framework is associated with the same brain networks that have – up to now – only been accessible through a small number of restricted laboratories. It enables this well established N400 marker of cognitive processing to be made globally accessible using the increasingly widespread growth of brain wave recording devices," states Dr. D'Arcy.
“Scientists have known about the traditional N400 response since the 1980s, but this advance using the investigational brain vital signs framework overcomes longstanding barriers towards translating the N400 into clinical use through engineered solutions for rapid, portable, easy-to-use technology platforms,” says Sujoy Ghosh Hajra, the lead author of the study and PhD student in biomedical engineering at Simon Fraser University.
“Our brain vital signs framework can monitor the brain just as effectively as the most advanced laboratory technologies but in a faster, easier, and more user-friendly way so that researchers can apply this more practical method to test patients,” states D’Arcy. “Our hope is that the brain vital signs framework will greatly impact researchers’ chance to help neurological conditions such as concussion, brain injury, and dementia.”
Additional details about the paper: https://rdcu.be/S58G
What is the Brain Vital Signs Framework?
The brain vital signs framework objectively analyzes complex brainwave data through electroencephalography (EEG), which then provides simple, practical and objective physiological markers of brain function. It is comparable to traditional brain imaging technologies such as high-density magnetoencephalography (MEG) for monitoring cognitive processing, which is only accessible through restricted lab settings, but the brain vital signs framework uses faster, easier and more user-friendly methods.
About HealthTech Connex Inc.:
HealthTech Connex, Inc. is a health technology company working to revolutionize the practice of clinical neuroscience through advanced technologies based on the highest quality science and innovations. Located within the Health and Technology District in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, HealthTech Connex’s premier focus is on advanced brain technologies, and helping individuals to achieve peak brain performance and guide best possible treatment options for people with devastating brain illness. It launched the Centre for Neurology Studies connecting clinicians, scientists and engineers with advanced R&D and innovative clinical neuroscience breakthroughs. www.HealthTechConnex.com
Media contact:
Yvonne Chiang, 604-880-5090, news@chiangpr.ca