Medical Device that Assesses Spinal Cord Function
Summary
Traumatic and/or functional spinal cord injuries are very common in Chile and around the world, leaving the individual disabled and involving high diagnostic, therapeutic and maintenance costs thereafter with severe psychological and economic burden.
The alternatives available today for determining whether a person has a spinal cord problem consist of radiology, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, which only provide information on structural, but not functional, alterations of the spinal cord.
That is why this team of researchers is working on a device that will make it possible to assess spinal cord function. This is a non-invasive, portable, fast, low-cost device that is based on a system of near infrared spectroscopy.
Advantages
- Portable device, making it easy to use at people’s homes, for accidents, without the need for the patient to be transferred to a health facility.
- It allows the evaluation of the function of the spinal cord, unlike the computerized tomography and the magnetic resonance imaging that only provide structural information of the spinal cord.
Development Status
TRL 4 – Laboratory testing of prototype component
Researchers
- Sergio Uribe
- Antonio Eblen