| abstract: |
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is recognized as a major public health concern, especially for teenagers and young adults, since it can lead to significant disruptions in education, working ability, and quality-of-life in general. It is one of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide. 1.6 million EU citizens are hospitalized with TBI each year and of which 50.000 die. The total economic burden in Europe for TBI of all known severities is estimated to EUR 33 billion annually. Currently, there is no objective method for diagnosing TBI in an early stage or in emergency, which is a premise to prevent serious health impact. Our idea is to develop a portable medical device for objective and reliable emergency diagnosis of TBI and a monitored personalized treatment based on qEEG (quantitative electroencephalography) and HD-TES (High-Definition Transcranial Electric Stimulation) technology. We propose to create innovative technology for the early detection and treatment of one of the most severe cognitive diseases for the use in emergency, telemedicine, hospitals, and rehabilitation centers. We will achieve this by 1) developing a novel vacuum based helmet device that will enable an accurate positioning system of up to 32 electrodes., 2) developing an instrumentation system that will combine qEEG recording and HD-TES treatment, 3) developing a data processing system that will control all measurements and data analysis including the algorithm for early detection and treatment of TBI. Our innovation will increase quality-of-life, improve first-aid care, and healthcare in remote and rural areas. Moreover, the society will benefit from sustainable savings in costs for healthcare and for work disability. We, the SMEs, will benefit from increased revenue and sales of the developed technologies and expect 5 year post-project an accumulated revenue of € 125 million and creating and estimated 833 jobs. |
