Helmet Research Brain Damage Prevention Monday, Dec 1 2008

An extremely high number of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans have sustained a traumatic brain injury or insult. These injuries can cause a number of problems for the individual soldier. Scientists are continually creating novel ways to diagnose and also to treat traumatic brain injuries. However, the ideal thing would be to prevent these head injuries from occurring in the first place.

Now some new research has come out of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Scientists there have been investigating the mechanics of how a bomb blast is able to affect the functioning of a soldier’s brain. Helmets in current use have been specially designed so as to minimize the amount of force from a blast impact. Even though helmets are protective, scientists have found that some helmet designs have a gap that is located between the helmet and a soldier’s skull. This gap actually has the potential to amplify some of the pressure that is due to a bomb blast. So in the future scientists may need to design helmets that will not do this. This may lead to better helmets that are more likely to prevent brain injuries. This could potentially reduce a large amount of the damage that is the result of brain insults.

The study is named “Skull Flexure from Blast Waves: A New Mechanism for Brain Injury with Implications for Helmet Design”:

(ii) Instead, a blast wave causes the skull to dynamically flex inwards and ripple outwards, creating localized regions of high and low pressure that produce large pressure gradients that are swept through the brain. The loads associated with even small amounts of skull flexure from a non-lethal blast wave are comparable to or greater than those in a typical injury-inducing impact, and should not be neglected.

(iii) Helmets can affect the interaction of the blast with the head in unexpected ways. In the absence of padding, the existence of a clearance gap between the helmet and the head allows underwash of the blast wave to create amplified pressures that act directly on the skull. Padding inhibits this underwash, but more strongly couples the helmet motion to the head, which can increase head accelerations and transmit blast-induced flexure to the skull.

Leave a Response »

 

Cognitive Tests for Military Troops Monday, Dec 1 2008

Soldiers who come from Europe may be required in the future to take a test that assesses cognitive functioning. This cognitive test would allow the military to determine a soldier’s baseline measurement. This baseline measurement could then be used later to tell if the soldier had a brain injury after undergoing a traumatic brain insult. The new test is called the Automated Neuropsycholigcal Assessment Metrics (ANAM). This test is a computerized exam that would take a soldier approximately 20 minutes to finish. The test measures a soldiers reaction times and also requires them to do some mental gymnastics. It also has sections that test for doing math and short-term memory.

Traumatic brain injury often occurs when there is either a sudden jolt to a person’s brain or something penetrates the skull. A brain insult can lead to varying changes in a soldier’s mental status. It could potentially range from mild headaches to long periods of unconsciousness. Many soldiers have mild traumatic brain injuries (TBI). These often occur when a soldier gets a concussion.

The Europe Regional Medical Command’s TBI program manager has said that they would wait about 24 to 48 hours before administering this specific cognitive test to a soldier. Then if they found any problems on the cognitive test, they could administer the proper treatment to the individual. This past year, the Army had already made this test mandatory for soldiers who were being deployed but not for those who were being redeployed. Scientists have said that ANAM should be considered a screening tool and not a complete diagnostic examination.

Leave a Response »

 

Stem Cells Neurologic Disorders Monday, Dec 1 2008

NeuroInsights is an authority on the neurotech market. They have been able to help a variety of different governments, executives and investors to understand a variety of devices that can measure and affect the central nervous system. They specialize in covering neurodevices, neurodiagnostics and neuropharmaceuticals. Neurotechnology is a huge market and many of these devices have the potential to treat a variety of brain disorders. Now a new report by NeuroInsights has recently been published. The report talks about using stem cells to treat a variety of different central nervous system disorders. Stem cells have the potential to treat both neurological and psychiatric disorders. In many degenerative brain disorders neuron replacement or tissue regeneration is a must for proper treatment. In the future, stem cells may be used to replace damaged brain cells. Many mental illness also have reduced amount of neurons in key areas associated with mood. Stem cells may be able to replace the neurons that are missing as a result of too much stress. You can see the report at this link. Stem cells may also be able be used to treat brain injuries.

1: Introduction
Defining Stem Cell Players and Markets
CHART: Stem Cell Industry Taxonomy
- Therapeutics
- Drug Discovery Tools
- Stem Cell Banking

2: Stem Cell Approaches
Background
Science of Transplantation
Controlling Immune Rejection and Infection
Sources and Harvesting of Stem Cells
- Embryonic Stem Cells
- Fetal Stem Cells
- Adult Stem Cells
- Stimulation of Endogenous Stem Cells
- TABLE: Advantages and Disadvantages of Approach by Company
Scientific Challenges and Advances in Neuro Stem Cell Therapy

4: Treatments in Development
Market Opportunities in Neurology, Psychiatry and Sensory Disorders
- CHART: Indications for Stem Cell Treatments, Number of People, US and WW
- TABLE: Treatments in Development by Company and Indication
Neurodegenerative Diseases
- Alzheimer’s Disease
- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
- Huntington’s Disease
- Parkinson’s Disease and Syndrome
Demyelinating disorders
- Multiple sclerosis
Sensory disorders
- Retinal disorders
- Hearing loss
Traumatic injury
- Spinal Cord Injury (SCI)
- Stroke
Other CNS diseases

Leave a Response »

 

Traumatic Brain Injury Press Release Monday, Dec 1 2008

Susan Connors the CEO of the Brain Injury Association of America has just recently released a press release. This press release described data on the current prevalence of traumatic brain injuries in the US. Traumatic brain injuries occur far to frequently and to too many people. The amount of people who undergo these injuries is astoundingly high. In the future doctors will certainly need to better diagnose and treat these currently devastating injuries.

The number of civilians in the United States living with a long-term disability from traumatic brain injury (TBI) is now estimated to be 3.17 million, according to a new article published in the Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation (Vol. 23, No. 6, pp. 394-400). The new prevalence estimate reflects the use of updated methodology and is not indicative of a reduction in the annual incidence of TBI, which remains at 1.4 million civilians in the U.S. The estimate is based on the results of statistical modeling and analysis of TBI hospitalization data from three states (Maryland, Vermont and New Jersey) in 2005 and does not include persons with TBI who were treated and released from the emergency department or other healthcare setting and those who did not seek treatment.

The Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) applauds the CDC for funding this important research and urges swift and widespread use of the new prevalence estimate in the field of brain injury. The Brain Injury Association of America reminds advocates, clinicians, researchers, policymakers and the public that the 3.17 million people living in the U.S. with a long-term disability are unique individuals whose lives are forever changed by their injuries and who need and deserve ongoing specialized rehabilitation, lifelong neurological disease management and individualized services and supports in order to maximize their health, independence and happiness.

Traumatic brain injury requires more attention from the government and is near to a public health crisis. There needs to be a better prevention and also treatment of these types of injuries. I think in the future we will increasingly see a variety of neurotechnology methods used to treat these brain disorders. Stem cells may be used to replaced damaged or missing brain tissue. Transcranial magnetic stimulation will be able to shape the brain for a beneficial effect.

Leave a Response »

 

Military Traumatic Brain Injury Sensor System Monday, Dec 1 2008

SI2 Technologies is a company that creates flexible and conformal electronic systems. Many of these electronic systems are designed especially for the US defense industry. SI2 is a Massachusetts based company. It has recently been announced that SI2 has been awarded funding from the US military’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). DARPA has given SI2 a small business innovation research phase II funding. They want SI2 to develop next generation sensors that can detect a variety of traumatic brain injuries in soldiers. This new sensors will be able to be mounted on a soldiers helmet. The phase II contract could be worth upwards of $1 million dollars. “The data collected with our sensor system could enable the development of enhanced protective gear and help diagnose when TBI occurs.” said Joseph Kunze, President of SI2 Technologies.

In the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts there has been a lot of use of improvised explosive devices by the enemy forces. Soldiers exposed to these devices may endure a variety of traumatic brain insults that can have a lasting negative effect on their functioning. Often the signs of traumatic brain injury can be very difficult to detect. Even certain brain scans may not be able to assess the damage properly.

The sensor that SI2 will develop will be both conformal and light weight. The sensor will be nearly undetectable by the soldier wearing it and will be fairly seamless in its functioning. The sensor will also come with a reader that could be used by a field medic. It would allow the download of the sensor’s information and a quick understanding of the soldier’s injury.

Leave a Response »

 

Brain Computer Interface Real Time Brain Imaging Monday, Dec 1 2008

Functional magnetic resonance imaging is a specialized type of an MRI brain scan. It measures what is called the haemodynamic response inside a person’s head. fMRI is able to detect the activation/deactivation patterns that are related to the regulation of the brain’s blood flow. This type of imaging has been used to diagnose a variety of brain problems including brain injuries. A brain computer interface (BCI) is a direct connection between a person’s brain and an external computer device. BCI’s are able to directly translate brain signals into electronic information. In the future brain computer interfaces may be used for people who are completely paralyzed. It could help them gain control of robotic arms or other appendages. Researchers have recently used real-time functional MRI (rtfMRI) for a
brain-computer interface. Here is the abstract for the paper.

Real-time functional MRI (rtfMRI) has been used as a basis for brain-computer interface (BCI) due to its ability to characterize region-specific brain activity in real-time. As an extension of BCI, we present an rtfMRI-based brain-machine interface (BMI) whereby 2-dimensional movement of a robotic arm was controlled by the regulation (and concurrent detection) of regional cortical activations in the primary motor areas. To do so, the subjects were engaged in the right- and/or left-hand motor imagery tasks. The blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signal originating from the corresponding hand motor areas was then translated into horizontal or vertical robotic arm movement. The movement was broadcasted visually back to the subject as a feedback. We demonstrated that real-time control of the robotic arm only through the subjects’ thought processes was possible using the rtfMRI-based BMI trials.

So basically the researchers recorded brain imaging readings from an area of the motor cortex. The motor cortex is a brain region that is involved with the ability to move appendages. They then translated those signals into moving a robotic arm vertically or horizontally. This type of brain imaging would allow a paralyzed person to control a robotic arm solely through using their mind.

At this point it is difficult to say how useful this will be. Doing real time brain imaging may not be practical and may be much too expensive. It doesn’t seem like this would actually help many people who currently have brain injuries. However, if the brain imaging technique gets cheaper, then it could potentially become a viable alternative to other brain-computer interfaces.

One Response »

 

Neurotechnology Industry Growth Monday, Dec 1 2008

Neurotechnology refers the the industry that includes sectors such as neurodevices, neuropharmaceuticals and neurodiagnostics. This things are used to both measure the brain’s functioning and manipulate its processes. The previous year the entire global neurotechnology industry increased its revenue by 8.3%. The revenue of the industry now totals approximately $130.5 billion dollars. This study has come out from NeuroInsights. NeuroInsights is a market analysis firm that is located in San Francisco, California. They have recently come out with a Neurotechnology Industry 2008 Report. In the report they profile about 500 different private and public companies.

Venture capitalist had invested $1.77 billion dollars in neurotechnology firms in 2007. Neurotechnology will likely be used to treat a variety of brain injuries in the future. You can read more on this topic here.

Leave a Response »