Doppler Ultrasound System Monitors Brain Blood Flow

A portable all-in-one ultrasound system assists in the rapid triaging and monitoring of patients with brain disorders.

The Lucid M1 TransCranial Doppler (TCD) ultrasound system is a medical-grade tablet device designed to non-invasively measure and display cerebral blood flow velocity over the head and neck with a reusable, 2-MHz hand-held probe that allows the scan to be performed in a physician’s office or a range of other settings, potentially without the need for additional, more invasive tests. It can also be used to perform bilateral cephalic monitoring by monitoring blood flow velocity in the temporal window, using a headset equipped with a pair of monitoring transducers.

Clinical measurements include maximum velocity, mean velocity, minimum velocity, pulsatility index, cerebrovascular reactivity, and emboli count. A unique feature of the battery operated system is a modified M-mode display, which allows the user to quickly acquire the spectrogram signal for a faster exam by visualizing signal strength along the horizontal axis, allowing depth of the sample gate to be set. The Lucid M1 Transcranial Doppler Ultrasound System is a product of Neural Analytics, and has been received the European Community CE mark of approval.

“The development of accurate and portable brain monitoring technology like the Lucid System is critical to expanding brain care in the 21st century,” said neuroradiologist Kyriakos Lobotesis, MD, of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust (London, United Kingdom). “Healthcare professionals will be able to utilize this diagnostic tool in a variety of clinical settings to accurately measure the brain’s blood flow to expedite medical care across a range of neurological disorders.”

Head injury is the leading cause of death and disability in people under 45 years of age in developed countries, mostly resulting from falls and road accidents. The primary injury caused by the initial mechanical force is followed by a secondary injury, which develops in the hours and days afterwards, which is largely responsible for patients' mental and physical disabilities.