Controversial technology used in brain injury detection
An old and controversial technology called qEEG (quantitative electroencephalogram) developed in the 1930s is being used in the development of a new tool that may help doctors determine whether a brain injury has occurred. The handheld device is being developed by a startup company called BrainScope. The device is purported to determine the severity of concussions by reading the brain’s electrical signals. The National Collegiate Athletic Association is planning a clinical trial for later in the year. Claims have been made that qEEG can be used to diagnose and treat learning disabilities and depression, but the claims have never been fully substantiated. BrainScope’s CEO Elvir Causevic is well aware of the controversy surrounding qEEG. In response, he has solicited the advice of 30 leading brain experts before developing its first product in 2003. The result was a tool that's cheap and simple enough to be used on the sidelines. The BrainScope device displays a meter, which shows whether brain activity after an injury falls in or out of the danger zone. Built-in signal-processing technology picks up abnormal brain signals, while simultaneously canceling out electrical noise from blinking, breathing, and the like. The device calculates the severity of each injury by comparing brain wave readings to a database of 15,000 scans compiled at New York University's Brain Research Lab.
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