Building on high sensitivity sensor systems that are only now emerging from the ultraquiet world of DoD Anti-Submarine-Warfare, Active Signal Technologies and Empirical Technologies have joined forces as ICP Technologies to prototype a small, lightweight, non-invasive ICP monitoring system capable of clearly discriminating trauma induced pressure elevation. In cooperation with the Neurosciences group at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, this team will apply the most advanced medical and acoustic methods, including both active interrogation and passive monitoring, to establish correlates to ICP from the physical parameters and measured dynamics of the cranial vault contents. The initial phase of the effort will employ device designs grounded in established acoustic and physiological principles and evaluate them against a mechanical model of the head replicating not only the acoustic and mechanical properties of the cranial vault contents but also mimicking its natural pressure accommodation mechanisms. Our overall strategy is to rapidly downselect from four of the most viable techniques to the two that provide enough complementary data to establish an absolute ICP measurement. The physical parameter inputs range from cranial extension and resonance characterization to optically sensed pulse wave velocity and ultrasonically measured anatomical displacement. High sensitivity and high specificity battefield ready ICP Monitor. Portable unit affordable for all EMS units in the U.S. Sophisticated measurement system for trauma and surgery patients in hospitals and critical care centers.
