Diagnostics


to brain monitoring A softer approach


Abnormal brain activity can be a tell-tale sign of neurological disease, but detecting it is more of a marathon than a sprint. Several limitations, from technology to convenience, prevent clinicians from detecting the signals needed to make a diagnosis, and the result is that patient treatment is delayed. There could be a glimmer of hope for the long-term monitoring necessary to avoid these mistakes, however. Sophie Ash speaks to Jennifer Gelinas, assistant professor of neurology, electrical, and biomedical engineering, and director of the Epilepsy and Cognition lab at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, to fi nd out how developments in materials science could make constant monitoring a reality for doctors and patients.


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t’s notoriously difficult to diagnose neurological diseases. Abnormal brain activity can’t always be pinned down to a single cause, and there’s always a chance short-term clinical investigation will miss vital signs of disease. While constant monitoring is an option, this comes with an array of limitations of its own. “The symptoms of neurological disease are typically transient,” says


Jennifer Gelinas, assistant professor of neurology, electrical, and biomedical engineering and the director of the Epilepsy and Cognition Lab at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. “This means they might not show themselves in a particular window of observation at the hospital, making it easy to miss an important diagnosis like multiple sclerosis or epilepsy.”


Practical Patient Care / www.practical-patient-care.com


Yurchanka Siarhei; Buch and Bee/Shutterstock.com


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