Cambridge 'swimming cap' offers hope for brain-injured children

Scientists are testing a new technique to monitor the brain activity of newborns.

How a 'bathing cap' could change the care of children with brain damage

Three-week-old Theo is fast asleep in a crib, unaware that he is helping to test new technology that could change other people's lives.

Dr. Froured Faure slowly scares him with a little black hat that looks like something that floats or something a rugby player would wear.

He is covered in hexagonal lumps that contain technology that monitors how his brain works.

Researchers at the Rosie Maternity Hospital in Cambridge are the first to trial a new technique, a world first, which could speed up the diagnosis and treatment of children with conditions such as epilepsy and learning difficulties.

It could be in use in UK hospitals within a decade.

For the first time in the history of innovation and ultrasound, a new version of the brain combines an optical explanation.

Our brain changes every day in the week leading up to our birthday.

Traumatic brain injury in newborns is a major cause of lifelong disability and programs are now being introduced across the NHS to reduce traumatic brain injury in childbirth.

Damage to the brain can affect the way the brain communicates with the body, which can lead to conditions such as epilepsy, which causes seizures or cerebral palsy, which affects movement and coordination.

It is the most common cause of premature death but can be caused by many problems including lack of oxygen, bleeding, infection or stillbirth.

But for the five in every 1,000 babies who suffer a brain injury, it is difficult to predict with current monitoring methods how and to what extent the child will be affected as they grow.

Explaining how the cap works, Dr Faure says: "Light sensors monitor oxygen changes at the surface of the brain - a technique known as high-density diffuse optical tomography - and functional ultrasound allows us to image small blood vessels deep in the brain."

But it is different because it is portable, so it can be used when watching children and often from the comfort of their bed.

Consultant gauresurgeon Dr Alexis Jonnitz believes that traditional Mur) or cus (cranial ultrasound can have many benefits.

"MRI has limitations for two reasons: one is the cost and availability of scanning spaces," he explained.

"The second is you have to take the baby to the noisy scanner, wait 20 minutes for the scan, and then take the baby again.

"Realistically, that means you can't do a series of scans, but the brain can change on a daily basis in the first few weeks, so the way you do repeated tests is incredibly powerful."

MRI and CUS are also considered limited in predicting the nature of damage due to the complex relationship between brain structure and function, although a 2018 study led by Imperial College London suggested that accuracy could be increased with an additional 15-minute scan.

By conducting regular tests on infants, it is hoped that problems will be identified much earlier and that therapies and interventions can begin earlier.

The research was welcomed by the charity Brain Plas.

"For many children with cerebral palsy, there is a path to diagnosis, so families say their child is 'at risk' for 'developmental problems,' but they don't fully understand what that means," Amanda said.

"Technology like this can make all the difference, but it's important to increase the capacity of the stakeholders to continue waiting for help."

Prof.Topun Austin, consultant and director of the Evelyn Perinatal Imaging Center at University Hospital Cambridge.His research focuses on treating the brain at the end of life - young and old.

He explains: "The Fusion study aims to develop and demonstrate a system for bedside assessment of brain activity in newborn infants and is currently the first of its kind in the world.

"We've spent 12 months validating the concept with healthy and dead babies, and now we're very interested in the risk of brain damage.

“Understanding brain activity patterns in both terms can identify people most vulnerable to injury at an early stage.”

Theo is one of the healthy beginnings that spread during the trial, but his mother, Stani Georgieva, feels that it is important to give.

"You guys, those researchers and all the changes that come out of that research, we're going to be important to a little bit of that knowledge," he said.We feel that this is a small part of the decision and that it is very important.We believe.

Dr Joannisdes is also co-director of the Brain Injury Center at Nihr Healthtech in Cambridge, which aims to help develop new technologies to improve the lives of people with brain injuries.

The Center has funded a researcher for this study, which will help pass the instrument, as well as become familiar with The Teperess. The research will help you succeed.

"We still have hurdles to overcome, but we hope, within three to five years we'll have a product that can be evaluated more widely," he says.

Spending permits will not only control children with known problems, but will also be a screening tool to help identify other things that may be at risk."

Nietzsche is mobilizing the nation to encourage people to participate in health research.

More details about the campaign can be found on the organization's website.

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