Use subtle electrical signals to detect and stop brain damage

Dr Hamid Abbasi from the Auckland Institute of Bioengineering at the University of Auckland has received the Cooper Prize
from the Royal Society Te apapawangi and the Health Research Council.
This is an early-career research excellence award
for technology, applied sciences and engineering.

He has developed a promising method to automatically identify biomarkers
for hypoxic-ischemic brain injury (HI).
This may be due to a number of problems during delivery, depriving the baby's brain of oxygen and blood supply, and the challenge to diagnose, in part due to a lack of robust biomarkers
.

This damage can progress to different types of neurological and neurodevelopmental disorders, such as cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and lifelong cognitive health problems
.
Through his research, Dr.
Abbasi discovered promising biosignatures
in the form of subtle EEG signals.
These can be seen within 6 hours of injury, which is the best time
to start treatment.
His research includes the development of an advanced machine learning framework that can identify and quantify these subtle waveform signatures in electroencephalogram (EEG) EEG signals in real time with over 99%
accuracy.

Dr.
Abbasi completed this award-winning research
in collaboration with Dr.
Abbasi under the supervision of Professors Aristeil Gunn and Laura Bennet from the Department of Physiology in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.
There, the team found that the sooner the better—cooling the brain in the first two hours greatly reduces the extent of
brain damage.

"The sooner we can determine the onset of an injury, the more likely it is to prevent further injuries and the long-term consequences
of injuries," he said.
This technology will give clinicians the confidence to identify problems and allow for quick, simple and early intervention
within a small window of opportunity.

Currently, hypothermia therapy is the most successful treatment for hypoxic-ischemic brain injury in term infants, cooling the brain by a few degrees and helping to significantly prevent the spread
of damage.
However, the success of treatment depends on application within the first 6 hours, and current treatment recommendations depend on the clinician's subjective assessment of the infant's physical symptoms, as there are currently no clear biomarkers to help clinicians know if and when HI
has occurred.

The algorithm developed by Dr.
Abbasi can accurately detect subtle EEG biomarkers identified by the team within the first 6 hours of HI brain injury occurring, which could be a game-changer for treating high-risk
infants.

Dr Abbasi is a Research Fellow at the Auckland Institute of Bioengineering and a member of the Department of Physiology and Brain Research at the University of
Auckland.
He is a machine learning expert with extensive experience in developing deep learning algorithms for healthcare applications, particularly in the fields of
neuroscience and brain care.

He also led the Neurofanos team, which was the first-place winner in the university's spotlight at the 2022 Velocity $100,000 Challenge, whose work on revolutionary intraoperative neuronavigation technology will help neurosurgeons see structures deep in the brain more clearly than ever before
.
He and his team are currently calling on PhD applicants to develop their research to develop techniques to determine the exact timing of hypoxic-ischemic brain injury to jump
further.
He hopes the research will lead to the development of a low-cost technology that can easily monitor a baby's neurological health
in any hospital in the country.
Dr.
Abbas dedicated his award to the women of
his native Iran.
"I stand with the brave people of Iran who have stood in
absolute darkness for the past few months," he said.
Here, I want to replicate their voices
for women, life and freedom.
I believe that the Illuminati will triumph over darkness
.
”