"Star Wars" helmet for detecting concussion

Maybe a possible use for detecting a stroke? But with no leadership or strategy we will never know about that possibility.
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A new system has been developed to make it possible to run fast EEG tests at accident scenes or in ambulances. Potential head traumas can be assessed and action taken at an early stage.
Two footballers clash heads and one of them is left lying on the pitch. How badly is the player hurt? Will he be able to carry on playing?
The medical team rushes from the sidelines and carefully places a helmet on the player's head. Shortly afterwards he is carried off the pitch. A concussion has been established and he must be kept absolutely still.
"Highly-paid players are under pressure to carry on playing", says Frode Strisland at SINTEF. "But a concussion must be taken very seriously. A player must take the time necessary to convalesce if he wants to be ready to play again as quickly as possible", he says.
EEG at the scene
The Norwegian company Smartbrain, which works with EEG-based diagnoses, came up with the idea to develop a portable system that could detect concussion at an early stage so that the right treatment could be given as soon as possible. With a patented idea for a new method of running EEGs, the company launched an EU-funded project which has just been completed.
"Our system, called EmerEEG, is special because it offers the opportunity to run EEGs really quickly", says Haldor Sjåheim at Smartbrain. "The diagnostics and outcomes for many patient groups in the field of emergency medicine will be improved, especially in cases of head trauma and strokes", he says. "Currently, we can't be sure of a patient's status before some time has passed – when he or she has arrived at the hospital. This can result in delayed injury and prolonged periods of convalescence", he says.
Students at Oslo Architecture and Design College have been working on the ergonomic aspects of the helmet and how it can be adapted for use in ambulances and emergency situations. Ambulance personnel at the Accident and Emergency clinic in Oslo who took part in the project were positive to this innovation and said that it would help them with many of the challenges they face.
Stimulation system
Professors Andrea Aantal and Walter Paulus from Gøttingen University Hospital are also taking part in this EU project. Both are world leaders in research into Transcranial Electrical Stimulation, which is a new approach to neurostimulation being used to treat a variety of clinical conditions and regulate brain activity.
Weak electrical stimulation using 32 electrodes makes it possible to stimulate or suppress brain activity, and this may be of help in treating conditions such as depression, tinnitus, migraine and speech dysfunction following strokes.