Electroencephalography (EEG) is a crucial tool in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU), where it is used to diagnose seizures and status epilepticus and to monitor critically ill neonates. Currently available EEG instrumentation is inadequate for a number of reasons: (1) preparation times are extended and re-application is problematic due to the fragility of the neonatal scalp, (2) it is not easily adapted to clinical cae sites that do not retain experienced EEG technicians, (3) it is not available or able to perform immediately preceding or during the ambulatory environment, thus losing critical diagnostic time, and (4) the presence of vernix impedes resistive electrode contact, requiring additional time to remove and limiting the practical and rapid diagnostic usefulness of current wet electrode EEG technology for neonatal use. More practical neonatal EEG systems can help diagnose and treat neonatal seizures and thus potentially reduce neurological disorders or infant mortality. This application aims to address the challenges of neonatal EEG by developing a portable, wireless, dry-sensor, neonatal EEG monitoring system that can be easily, rapidly, and accurately applied in a variety of environments with limited technical skill and without patient skin preparation to assist in EEG clinical diagnosis and treatment strategies prior to arrival at and during stays in the NICU. In this Phase I effort QUASAR, a leader in noninvasive sensor technology, will collaborate with Children's National Medical Center, a leading medical institution with a well established comprehensive Neonatal Neurology Program and Neonatal Neurointensive Service, to examine the technical feasibility of such a device. QUASAR has advanced dry-sensor EEG technology to the point that its signal quality is considered comparable to that obtained with wet electrodes on adult subjects. The ultra-high impedance amplifiers of the dry sensors should allow similar performance even through the waxy vernix present on some neonates. This project will verify the capability of recording interpretable EEG from neonates using QUASAR's sensor, and will develop mechanical designs for an easy-to-use structure to position and hold sensors in place on neonates. The success of this project will bring about several technological innovations and methodological solutions to the NICU that will facilitate and aid in the diagnosis and management of critically ill neonates.
QUASAR and Children's National Medical Center will collaborate to develop an innovative, noninvasive neonatal EEG monitoring system that will enable Neonatal Intensive Care Units to record EEG without the need for trained EEG technicians, in environments in which this was previously not possible. This technology will improve the ability to monitor and treat critically ill neonates, and potentially help reduce infan mortality from seizures or other neurological disorders.
| Fridman, Igor; Cordeiro, Malaika; Rais-Bahrami, Khodayar et al. (2016) Evaluation of Dry Sensors for Neonatal EEG Recordings. J Clin Neurophysiol 33:149-55 |
