Advanced Sensors for TBI
Abstract
A major gap in understanding of blast TBI is how external kinetic blast energy translates to pressure transients in the brain. This project used miniaturized pressure sensors engineered at the LLNL to measure immediate increases in intracranial pressure (ICP) combined with longer-term measurements of biological ICP. We found that the existing LLNL sensors were not capable of measuring pressure changes in a wet environment. We solved this problem by enclosing a reference volume over the sensor diaphragm which provided reliable measurements over a range of pressures. We found that the brain responded differently to sensors implanted for 14 days in the rats cranial vault at different locations and that epidural sites minimized brain cell death and glial scarring. Static and dynamic pressure tests of the modified sensors reliably measured pressure transients in a test chamber connected to the fluid percussion device. The modified sensors reliably detected pressure transient in the brain of rats subjected to fluid percussion TBI. Modifications to the circuitry of the sensors provided accurate and reliable measures of temperature within a physiological range. A limitation was revealed that the sensor could not detect small pressure changes associated with biological ICP and will require further engineering and fabrication.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 2011
- Accession Number
- ADA547377
Entities
People
- Bruce Lyeth
Organizations
- University of California