TURING MEDICAL TECHNOLOGIES INC — Department of Health and Human Services SBIR Phase I: 101

Description

Project Abstract Summary The goal of this STTR application is to deliver a brain MRI technology that feeds back head motion measurements derived from our Framewise Integrated Real Time MRI MonitoringFIRMMto MRI scan participants in order to reduce head motion via behavioral trainingBecause MRI scanning produces highresolution images and does not expose patients to radiationit has become an immensely valuable diagnostic toolparticularly for imaging the brainLast yearin the United States alonethere were overmillion brain MRIscosting an estimated $billionUnfortunatelybrain MRIs are limited by the fact that head motion during the scan can cause the resulting images to be suboptimal or even unusableAn estimatedof all brain MRIs are ruined by motionwasting $billion annuallyCurrentlythere are two predominant strategies to combat head motionrepeat scanning and anesthesiaboth of which are inadequateRepeat scanningwhich consists of acquiring extra imagesto ensure enough usable ones were acquiredincreases scanning time and costand can result in too few usable images or unnecessary extra imagesAnesthesiawhich is given to patients who are likely to movesuch as young childrenpresents a serious safety risk and is sometimes administered unnecessarilyi ethe patient could hold still without anesthesiaAnesthesia is never an option for functional MRIfMRIwhich requires participants to be awakeThe software based FIRMM biofeedback solution proposed in this grant uses MR imagesas they are being collectedto compute a patient s head motion in real time during an MRI scanThe availability of real time motion information will enable more informed anesthesia use and reduce excess scanningmaking these methods safer and more efficientArmed with real time motion informationscan operators will know exactly how many usable images have been acquiredpreventing the acquisition of too many or too few extra imagesAdditionallyproviding physicians with quantitative information about patient motion will allow them to make an informed decision regarding anesthesiapreventing unnecessary sedationThe proposed solution focuses on a completely new biobehavioral method for combating head motionsubject biofeedbackThe technology can translate the head motion information into age appropriatevisual biofeedback for the scan participantBy providing feedback to patients and research subjectsthe FIRMMbiofeedback technology helps both pediatric and adult patients remain more stillimproving image qualityThe proposed research focuses on delivering proof of concept for FIRMM biofeedbackPhase Iand building and validating a product version of FIRMM biofeedbackPhase IIThe FIRMM biofeedback technology provides patients and research subjects with real time head motion informationwith the goal of making MR scans saferfastermore enjoyable and less expensive Project Narrative Magnetic resonance imagingMRIhas unrivaled clinical and research utilityis non invasiveand provides extremely high spatial resolutionhoweverMRIs have one severe limitationsubject motion during an MRI scan greatly diminishes the quality of the resulting imagesDespite this factmotion is not routinely monitored during MRI scansWe have developed softwareFIRMMthat allows for non invasive monitoring of subject motion during brain MRIsThe goal of this proposal is to build and validate biofeedback technologyFIRMMbiofeedbackthat uses FIRMM head motion information and visually displays it in the scanner borein order to actively reduce head motion via biobehavioral trainingthus increasing image qualityscanning quality and patient satisfaction