Description

Near Infrared Imaging, and the scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, are on the cusp of introducing a revolutionary new technology for the detection and monitoring of brain injuries, malignant cancers, brain diseases, brain disorders, and cardiovascular diseases (the #1 cause of death in the USA). 

We are owned in part by UCLA’s School of Medicine and the City University of New York.       

For the past few years, we have been involved in extensive R&D to develop the optimal photoacoustic imaging scanner to detect brain injuries and brain diseases. The pieces of the puzzle have been solved and perfected. We are now ready to assemble the pieces and develop the PAT 2700 family of products.

- These will be portable, non-radiation cameras that will be green and environmentally safe.

- They will detect the presence, size, and location of a brain injury and send 3D images from ringside, the trainer’s room, the football field or the hockey rink directly to the waiting neurosurgeon.

- They will provide “real time” images so that the ER physician will be able to triage which patient needs immediate surgery and which patient should be monitored and treated with medication.

- They will safely provide continuous bedside monitoring in the Intensive Care or post-surgical areas of the hospital, 24/7, a feature critically important but not yet available. 

- They will detect if a hemorrhage is worsening and sound an alarm.

- They will detect if the blood in the brain is pink “new” blood or if it is dark “aged” blood – very important in the case of abuse.   

- The PAT 2700 scanners will remotely, continuously, and safely monitor the brain’s activities of patients who have epilepsy, schizophrenia, Parkinson’s and other brain disorders.

- They will scan the pancreas and liver to detect cancer and liver diseases in the early stages. 

If we had our camera at the ski slope, or in the ambulance, when Natasha Richardson fell on the ski slope, she would be alive today. The demand for our truly revolutionary, disruptive and “game changing” invention is overwhelming.

All we need is funding to finish our work and build the first working model. More than 80% of the funding will go directly to the non-profit research institutions that are involved with building the first working model. 

Project outcome and impact of result

Once we receive funding, we will immediately begin the development of the actual camera. This project advances new tissue diagnosis paradigms for medical imaging. The funding will support our efforts to build the first working model.

NII will work with the scientists and physicists to employ knowledge and cutting-edge-technologies developed at LLNL (engineered materials, advanced sensing systems, photonic technologies, modeling properties of complex materials) to develop a unique photonic-based system for non-contact diagnosis and noninvasive monitoring of various medical conditions including brain trauma, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases. 

This project will bridge and take advantage of expertise at LLNL stemming from research and development efforts in support of various programs (such as the National Ignition Facility, NIF and the Extreme ultraviolet lithography, EUVL) and expertise in applied medical photonics at the University of California.

This technology will generate a new paradigm for the implementation of photoacoustic technology. Such paradigm is expected to ease the clinical implementation of this technology as well as to broaden its area of applications.

A successful outcome will impact main societal problems including detection and monitoring of traumatic brain injury (indentified as a major problem in the sports and military communities), atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (the main cause of death in the USA) and various types of critical cancers (e.g. brain, head and neck, skin cancer). 

References

• www.nearinfraredimaging.com