Cerebroscope

CerebroScope's mission is to design, build, validate, and market easy-to-use devices for monitoring brain-damaging electrical tsunami's (called cortical Spreading Depolarizations, SDs) in the neuro-intensive care unit. CerebroScope's 3-year NIH SBIR enabled the design and development of a proof-of-concept prototype system that provided validated data in acute brain injury. Our next SBIR grant will explore usability and functionality in the challenging Neuro-ICU environment and will also test whether use could be expanded to include other conditions where CSD is known to occur, such as migraine aura, and likely to occur, such as concussion. The key features of our proposed device are: 1) It detects SD from the scalp, whereas previously SD has only been observed (in acute brain injury) with electrodes on the brain surface. 2) For acute brain injury, the device can be used to develop therapeutics based on stopping SD, as each repetitive SD kills more brain. 3) For migraine aura, the device can be used to evaluate existing and future therapeutics that are based on stopping SD before the progression to migraine pain. 4) For concussion the device: a) would detect an actual brain event, rather than what the brain does to the rest of the body, clearly differentiating it from most, if not all, current concussion assessment methods that depend on post-concussion symptoms; and b) would provide an immediate result during the short period from 5 to 50 minutes after a concussive head hit or blast injury.