- LONDON -- Until now,
electrodes were inserted into the brain or even placed on the scalp in
order to record brainwaves. But, in a significant breakthrough, British
scientists claim to have developed a device that measures brain's electrical
activity without the need for electrodes.
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- Instead of measuring electric current flow through a
fixed-on electrode, the new method takes advantage of the latest developments
in sensor technology to measure electric fields from the brain without
actually having to make direct contact with the head.
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- According to the team from the Centre for Physical Electronics
at the University of Sussex, the new sensor, which is far more user-friendly
than existing techniques, will lead to major advances in the collection
and display of electrical information from the brain and could even be
used to control machines in a more effective way than is currently possible.
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- Conventional electroencephalograms, which are collected
either by inserting needle electrodes directly into the brain or by fixing
electrodes to the scalp, often leads to trauma - it may be necessary to
remove some of the patient's hair.
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- Moreover, the process of attaching conventional electrodes
may lead to skin abrasion and irritation.
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- And though current imaging techniques are very good at
providing information about fixed anatomical structures in the body, lead
researcher Professor Terry Clark says it had proved more difficult to find
ways to monitor the body's ever-changing electrical currents - the information
that was needed to gain a real insight into the electrical workings of
the body.
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- The new system provides a way to do this effectively.
And because it is non-invasive, it is completely safe, and more accurate
because it does not interfere with the electrical fields generated by the
body.
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- "It is a new age as far as sensing the electrical
dynamics of the body is concerned, like seeing in colour for the first
time. The possibilities for the future are boundless. The advantages offered
by these sensors compared with the currently used contact electrodes may
act to stimulate new developments in multichannel EEG monitoring and in
real-time electrical imaging of the brain. By picking up brain signals
non-invasively, we could find ourselves controlling machinery with our
thoughts alone: a marriage of mind and machine," Prof Clark was quoted
as saying by BBC.
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- Prof Tonmoy Sharma, a neuropsychologist at the Clinical
Neuroscience Research Centre at Dartford, Kent, says the device would potentially
be very useful.
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- "We deal with patients who have Alzheimer's disease
and schizophrenia who often have delusions about electrodes in their head,
and who refuse treatment. A non-invasive method would allow us to monitor
the effects of drugs on the brain over time, and to tailor treatments more
effectively," he adds.
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- Copyright 2002 Times Internet Limited.
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- All rights reserved.
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- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?artid
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