Portable, optical brain imaging for concussion was evaluated by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences. They say this is the first step toward demonstrating its use on patients.
The findings from the optical-imaging research use functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), which works like a pulse oximeter for the brain, to provide preliminary support for the tool as a low-cost, portable device for imaging sports and military concussions, researchers said. The fNIRS unit measures blood flow to the brain by sending light signals from sensors mounted in a headcap, then producing images of blood oxygen changes, which represent brain activity, by recording the absorption of light at different colors. The fNIRS produced readouts while participants wearing the headcap took a computerized neurocognitive test and matched the test in revealing the brain’s struggles to complete specific cognitive tasks.
If a patient is performing a memory task or reaction-time task, it would require activation (more blood flow, more oxygen needed) in certain areas of the brain specific to that task. However, the researchers found decreased and more spread out activation in the concussed group.
The technology uses a portable and fairly inexpensive imaging device, compared to an MRI, and allows researchers to combine spatial and temporal information, meaning what is going on in a specific area of the brain and when the activation is occurring.
