Slow Cortical Potential Covariance for Brain Mapping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for precise localization of eloquent cortex during surgery are invasive, stressful for patients, and carry risks such as inducing seizures, while existing anesthetic mechanisms for inducing unconsciousness are not fully understood, limiting the ability to map brain functions without awake patients or cortical stimulation.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the application of electrodes to the brain surface to determine slow cortical potentials and compute covariance patterns to identify functional areas associated with neurological functions, allowing for the identification of areas like speech and motor cortex in unresponsive patients, using invasive electrocorticographic monitoring during anesthesia induction and recovery.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If direct electrocortical stimulation (DECS) is used to map eloquent cortex, then functional localization precision is improved, but patient stress and seizure risk increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces slow cortical potential (SCP) monitoring as an intermediary method between traditional DECS and non-invasive imaging. SCPs serve as a mediator that provides functional localization information without requiring direct cortical stimulation, thereby maintaining measurement precision while eliminating the harmful effects of seizures and patient stress associated with DECS
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical/electrical stimulation system (DECS) with a passive monitoring system that measures naturally occurring slow cortical potentials. This substitution eliminates the need for active stimulation while preserving the ability to localize eloquent cortex, thereby removing the harmful effects of stimulation-induced seizures and patient stress
2Measurement precision
If awake craniotomy with DECS is performed, then functional mapping accuracy is improved, but surgical time and patient discomfort increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs functional mapping during the anesthesia induction phase, before the main surgical procedure begins. By utilizing the natural transition of brain states during anesthesia, the mapping is completed preliminarily, allowing the rest of the surgery to proceed without time-consuming awake mapping procedures while maintaining high functional mapping accuracy
3Object-affected harmful factors
If non-invasive imaging methods are used to study anesthetic effects, then patient safety is improved, but temporal resolution and mechanistic understanding deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent nests invasive electrocorticographic electrode arrays within the surgical craniotomy site, allowing simultaneous non-invasive safety benefits and high-resolution invasive measurements. The electrodes are placed directly on the cortical surface during surgery, enabling millisecond-level temporal resolution of SCPs while maintaining patient safety through controlled surgical conditions and reversible procedures
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables the identification of functional brain areas in unconscious surgical patients, reducing the need for awake surgery and cortical stimulation, and providing a more precise and safer mapping of brain functions by leveraging stable covariance patterns across varying anesthesia depths.
Implementation Method 1
A slow cortical potential is determined based on one or more electrical signals produced by the plurality of electrodes
Data Source
AI summary
A method for identifying a functional area of a brain. The functional area is associated with a neurological function. The method includes applying a plurality of electrodes to a surface of the brain. A slow cortical potential is determined based on one or more electrical signals produced by the plurality of electrodes. A covariance pattern is computed based on the slow cortical potential, and the configuration of co-varying electrodes is used to identify one or more areas of the brain associated with the neurological function. These co-varying patterns may be used in conjunction with other electrical and/or physiological stimulation paradigms.