GE develops brain imaging 'helmet'
24 Nov 2014
Scientists at GE Research are currently developing a wearable, high-resolution imaging ’helmet’ that would allow doctors to observe the brain on the cellular level.
Forming part of US president Barrack Obama’s ’Brain Initiative’, researchers at GE said the device could also allow doctors to study motor activity in the brain, as patients wearing the helmet would be able to move around as their brains are being imaged.
“If successful, this effort would represent a monumental advancement in imaging technology that will enhance the understanding of brain function both in normal and diseased states,” said Nadeem Ishaque, global technology director for diagnostics and biomedical technologies at GE Global Research (GRC).
“This technology could improve our molecular sensitivity by a couple of orders of magnitude
GRC scientist Ravindra Manjeshwar
GE is developing the helmet in partnership with the West Virginia University, the University of Washington, and the University of California-Davis.
The device will use positron emission tomography (PET) designed to reach down to the level of individual cells, and look for misfolded proteins and other signs of neurological disorders, GE said.
“Today, many important classes of neurons and glial cells remain undetectable by imaging techniques because of their very low concentration,” Ishaque said.
“This device could help us understand how brain circuits and networks work, and how they are organised.”
Unlike X-Ray and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technologies, which image physical structures such as bones and organs, PET detectors study the body’s functions.
To use the device, doctors would first inject patients with special tracer molecules that attach themselves to target tissues. As the tracers contain radioactive isotopes, physicians can listen for their signals and measure their distribution.
“You can spot cancer cells dividing this way,” said Ravindra Manjeshwar, who runs the functional imaging laboratory at the GRC.
Although PET is mostly used to monitor the spread of cancer and response to cancer treatment, GE scientists have developed new classes of tracers that can zero in on neuroinflamation, which can be present during concussion, and amyloid plaque and tau proteins, which are thought to be associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
According to Manjeshwar, this new technology could “help scientists make a quantum leap in what they can detect in the brain”.
“We still know very little about the brain, and PET images are still very fuzzy and blobby,” Manjeshwar said.
“But this technology could improve our molecular sensitivity by a couple of orders of magnitude.”
GE’s work in this area forms part of the National Institute of Health’s $46 million (£29.3m) initiative to revolutionise our current understanding of the human brain.
