Non-invasive aICP monitoring value proposition

Non-invasive aICP monitor turns a complex invasive procedure applied to only the sickest patients in intensive care units (ICU) into one that is portable, non-invasive, simple and quick to perform on much wider patient population outside ICU. Discussions with leading neuroscientists, neurologists, neuro-intensivists and neurosurgeons from the US and EU have confirmed that a non-invasive ICP absoliute value monitoring device would have significant clinical value. The first accurate method for non-invasively monitoring intracranial pressure without the need of individual patient calibration has the potential to revolutionize clinical care by:

 

1) Improvements in the management of invasive ICP monitoring:

- Screening of patients with head injuries in the first few hours after a brain injury or insult at the points of contact in the field and in emergency departments, allowing faster triage of high-risk patients.

 

- In-time and evidence-based application of therapy. At present, therapy for intracranial hypertension is frequently administered blindly, i.e. without an exact knowledge of ICP values and ICP dynamic or insight into the functional state of cerebral vasculature. Universal application of non-invasive ICP measurement in ICU would allow for timely implantation of invasive ICP probes and better treatment (1).

 

- Reliable decision making about the selection of patients which need invasive ICP monitoring by non-invasive snap shot measurement of ICP value before insertion invasive ICP probe or intraventricular catheter thus avoiding unnecessary cost and complications.

 

- Long term monitoring - currently, ICP monitoring is usually discontinued after a few days because of the increased risk of infections (intraventricular catheters) or considerable drift of the transducer (subdural and intraparenchymal monitors). Non-invasive monitoring could be continued into the subsequent phases of recovery and serve to predict the speed and degree of recovery of the impaired functions, which may assist in planning rehabilitation treatment.

 

2) Expansion of ICP monitoring to other patient groups:

- Expanding ICP monitoring to a broader set of patients (children, elderly), other frequent conditions accompanied with intracranial hypertension (lower-risk TBI, hydrocephalus, stroke, etc.) and settings (post-operatively, in neurology clinics), thereby providing more immediate information to support better clinical decision-making.

 

 

 

 

 

_____________________________________________________

1 Popovic et al. Recent Patents on Biomedical Engineering 2009, 2, 165-179