Refining an Automated Transcranial Doppler System for the Detection of Vasospasm after Traumatic Brain Injury.

摘要

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major contributor to morbidity and mortality experienced by those soldiers subjected to improvised explosive devices (IED) as well as in military and civilian high speed collisions. Traumatic cerebral vasospasm (TCV) is a major contributor to morbidity and mortality experienced by those TBI patients. Aggressive neurosurgical treatment motivated by early diagnosis appears to improve the clinical outcome for these patients. Early transcranial Doppler (TCD) measurements of blood flow speed within major cerebral arteries produces the initial diagnosis, hence motivates the rapid treatment of TCV. However, the skill necessary to deploy TCD limits its availability relative to its need. PhysioSonics, Inc, a local company in Seattle, created an automatic TCD system (called Presto or aTCD) that minimizes the skill necessary to perform TCD assays. Our long-term goal is to optimize Presto for patients in vasospasm, through optimization of its spectral Doppler envelope analyzer, its headset and supporting software so it can track blood flow in the internal carotid artery as well as middle cerebral artery.