Wireless Signals Could Transform Brain Trauma Diagnostics

A new prototype device analyzes data from low energy electromagnetic waves to provide real time, noninvasive diagnoses of brain swelling or bleeding.

Researchers at the University of California Berkeley (USA) and the Instituto Politécnico Nacional (NPI; Mexico City, Mexico) developed a new paradigm for medical diagnostics based on volumetric electromagnetic phase shift spectroscopy (VEPS), an inexpensive partial substitute to medical imaging. VEPS can detect changes in tissue properties inside the body through noncontact multifrequency-electromagnetic measurements from the exterior of the body, providing rapid and inexpensive diagnostics suitable for use in economically disadvantaged parts of the world.


The researchers used the technology to take advantage of the characteristic changes in tissue composition and structure in brain injuries. In brain edemas, swelling results from an increase in fluid in the tissue; for brain hematomas, internal bleeding causes the buildup of blood in certain regions of the brain. Because fluid conducts electricity differently than brain tissue, it is possible to measure changes in electromagnetic properties. The researchers fashioned two coils into a helmet-like device fitted over the heads of the study participants; one coil acted as an electromagnetic signal radio emitter and the other served as the receiver.

The researchers then conducted a limited pilot study with 46 healthy volunteers and 8 patients with computerized tomography (CT) radiology that confirmed brain edema and brain hematoma, using computer algorithms to determine the likelihood of injury. The results showed that in the frequency range of 26–39 MHz, VEPS could distinguish noninvasively and without contact between healthy subjects and those with a medical condition in the brain. In the frequency range of 153–166 MHz, it can distinguish between subjects with brain edema and those with a hematoma in the brain. The study was published in the May 14, 2013, issue of PLOS One.

“There are large populations in Mexico and the world that do not have adequate access to advanced medical imaging, either because it is too costly or the facilities are far away,” said study coauthor Prof. César González, MD. “This technology is inexpensive, it can be used in economically disadvantaged parts of the world and in rural areas that lack industrial infrastructure, and it may substantially reduce the cost and change the paradigm of medical diagnostics. We have also shown that the technology could be combined with cell phones for remote diagnostics.”

“With an increase in age, the average electromagnetic transmission signature of a normal human brain changes and approaches that of younger patients with a severe medical condition of hematoma in the brain,” added Prof. González. “This suggests the potential for the device to be used as an indication for the health of the brain in older patients in a similar way in which measurements of blood pressure, ECG, cholesterol or other health markers are used for diagnostic of human health conditions.”

Related Links:
University of California Berkeley
Instituto Politécnico Nacional