Transcranial Ultrasound Brain Imaging Instrument (TRUBI) for Point-of-Care Diagnosis of Intracranial Hemorrhages in Traumatic Brain Injuries
Abstract
The proposed research and development project addresses the “Neurological injury” and “Point-of-care imaging” Fiscal Year 2019 Combat Readiness Medical Research Program Rapid Development and Translational Research Award Focus Areas. Intracranial bleeding (ICB) is an accumulation of blood between the brain and the skull or inside the brain tissue as a result of head trauma. ICB is often difficult to diagnose based on external physical examination, so that a computed tomography (CT) scan is prescribed. After finding bleeding in the brain, the neurosurgeon determines its type and then decides how to treat it. If not timely diagnosed, certain type of ICB can rapidly grow causing permanent brain damage and death. On the other hand, even some very aggressive bleeding, if diagnosed early, can be drained through a simple burr hole to relieve the pressure inside the head and save the patient. In the battlefield, the short period of time immediately following the injury is called the “golden hour” due to its critical importance for diagnosis and treatment of injured Soldiers. Currently, there are no portable tools to detect ICB during the “golden hour” with the same confidence as CT; therefore, many critical decisions are delayed until the Soldier is seen by a general surgeon at a mobile hospital, or until a CT is done at a combat support hospital. In this project, Tessonics Medical Systems will develop a portable diagnostic imaging device that can be taken to the field by paramedics and used to noninvasively detect intracranial bleeding directly through the skull. Our device is an ultrasound machine that can see the brain through thick skull bones. It measures the thickness, curvature, and acoustical parameters of the skull under the probe and uses that information to focus ultrasound waves into the brain. Without such focusing, the ultrasound image of the brain becomes severely distorted and almost impossible to analyze. That is why other ultrasound machines look at the brain only through areas where the skull is thin, such as temples. The machine we are building will detect and characterize ICB anywhere in the brain. We already tested our device in the lab on very realistic sheep head models and confirmed a dramatic increase in imaging quality and detectability of ICB when our focusing algorithms are applied. Our device will not use radiation while imaging the brain. Diagnostic ultrasound is safe and can be used repeatedly without causing any adverse health effects. It is also very portable and, other than the battlefield, it can also be used in civilian settings where the head trauma happens, such as roadside accident sites, natural disaster areas, or sports events. The recorded ICB images can also be sent to a radiologist or neurosurgeon for a quick external consultation.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Mar 10, 2021
- Source ID
- W81XWH2010852
Entities
People
- Roman Maev
Organizations
- United States Army