Short report n. 3 - Non-invasive medical device for the study of syndromes of altered state of consciousness

The system consists of an integrated and portable device for uni- and unconventional multi-modal sensory stimulation (audio, video, tactile) of the patient and the synchronised acquisition of correlated physiological signals (EEG, EMG, ECG, EOG, pulseoximetry, respiratory rate, video-monitoring, cognitive event-related potentials). Other biophysiological phenomena, such as the change in heart rate or the activation of muscle regions, can be related to audio/video stimulation, with or without emotional value. The system enables the planning of sensory stimulation protocols to be performed within a single day or several days and also to populate a centralised database on the course of the patient’s recovery of consciousness. The data collected may help to define more reliable prognostic models than those currently available.

The system allows to apply planned stimulations for therapeutic purposes. In this context the possible applications appear to be the following ones:

• to limit the status of sensory deprivation, which is known to compromise, also in healthy subjects, the functions of the Central Nervous System (1)
• to repeatedly stimulate the patients whose index of consciousness recovery appears to be correlated
  with specific patterns of stimulation.

Short Report n. 3, Agenzia sanitaria e sociale regionale - Regione Emilia-Romagna, Bologna, gennaio 2010