Brain Tech
NeuroTech
Point of Care Health Technologies
BrainTech Node
Project Leads: Dr. Ryan D’Arcy and Dr. Carlo Menon
Position: Professor
Department(s): Mechatronics and Engineering Science Institution: Simon Fraser University
Project Title
Motor score development for brain vital sign applications in home-based rehabilitation
Research Summary
Following brain trauma, such as stroke or brain injury, rehabilitation is critical to help recover vital lost movement, speech, and other cognitive functions. Simon Fraser University’s NeuroTech team specializes in Point-of-Care (POC) technologies that help monitor the recovery of vital brain functions. The current project expands upon this well-established translational research to solve the largest problem in rehabilitation - access.
The team is developing and deploying a POC brain vital sign that will allow for home-based motor function recovery so patients can utilize a host of different home-based rehabilitation technologies. The technology is being developed and validated currently and this project will enable the initial validation studies to proceed. Once validated, the technology will be incorporated within the existing brain vital sign framework for wide-scale accessibility in monitoring home based rehabilitation progress.
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ImageTech
Point of Care Health Technologies
BrainTech Node
Project Leads: Dr. Teresa Cheung
Position: Professor
Department(s): Engineering, Computing Science
Institution: Simon Fraser University
Project Title
A multichannel optically pumped magnetometer system for magnetoencephalography and spinal cord conduction imaging
Research Summary
According to a 2010 report from the Rik Hansen Institute and Urban Futures, over 85,000 Canadians live with some form of spinal cord injury with new cases occurring at a rate of more than 4000 per year. Diagnosis of afferent spinal cord function of an injured or compressed spinal cord remains a largely invasive procedure. Such spinal lesions lead to disruption in current flow.
Current methods to characterize the location and functional capacity of these injuries require the use of highly invasive techniques that involve insertion of probes within the spinal column to measure current flow changes. Thus these procedures are limited to the most severe cases, and are not inducive for therapeutic or repeat applications.