Oct 20, 2010 07:04 GMT  ·  By

The hair brush that reads your mind is the latest invention coming from a team of researchers at the University of Texas at Dallas and the University of Texas at Arlington.

It is called the 'brush optrode,' and its the latest, most sensitive technology in terms of brain imaging.

Doctors often measure and monitor mental activity in patients with neurological conditions, and one of the most common techniques is called functional near infrared spectroscopy – fNIRS.

The problem with this method is that the results are sometimes unclear because of the patient's hair, that gets in the way.

This new device actually has very sensitive fiber tips that are designed to pass through hair and improve scalp contact.

The 'brush optrode' should open the way to more portable, high-density, easy-to-use optical scanning of brain activity.

Functional near infrared spectroscopy is an optical technique, noninvasive, which measures oxygen levels in the brain, by calculating the difference between oxygenated hemoglobin and deoxygenated hemoglobin with two near infrared wavelengths, thus determining neurological activity.

Duncan MacFarlane, professor of electrical engineering in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Texas at Dallas said that “using light to measure a person's thinking pattern has numerous advantages over EEGs, including ease of use, reliability, cost, portability and MRI compatibility.”

MacFarlane added that “the conventional fibers used in fNIRS systems terminate in a large, flat bundle, and it is easy for a patient's hair to get in the way and block the signal.

“So we developed a new tip for the fNIRS fibers -- a brush optrode that slides the fibers between the hair follicles.

“Signal levels increase 3- to 5-fold, and patients report that the brush optrode is considerably more comfortable than the conventional fiber ends.”

The researchers from the University of Texas have illustrated this aspect by studying the images of the changes within the cortical plasticity, as an aggravating factor in children suffering from cerebral palsy.

An enthusiast of this new device, Georgios Alexandrakis, a member of the UT Arlington research team, said that the brand new optrodes could also prove very helpful to several others fNIRS projects like: stroke recovery assessment, the perception of pain, the changes in brain activity in patients suffering from Alzheimer's or the evaluation of developmental changes in normal and impaired children.

The new device will be detailed at the Optical Society's (OSA) 94th annual meeting, Frontiers in Optics (FiO) 2010, at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center in Rochester, NY, starting October 24th.