Futuristic EIMindA ‘Helmet’ Monitors Brain Health Like Never Before

By David Shamah, The Times of Israel August 14, 2014 2 minutes

Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Barack Obama observing the ElMindA Helmet in 2013. Courtesy

This article was first published on The Times of Israel and was re-posted with permission.

Helmet-like Israeli brain monitor that works without penetrating the skull has the potential to spot problems early, giving doctors a chance to step in with treatment programs to help patients cope with disorders like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and ADHD.

ElMindA received FDA clearance in early August for use of its brain activity monitoring system in assessing brain function in patients. ElMindA’s BNA Analysis System uses sensors that measure and analyze neural activity during specific brain processes, presenting information about brain activity and measuring it against a database of over 7,000 brain functions to see how a patient’s condition stacks up. BNA stands for Brain Network Activation.

“Greater understanding of how our brain processes information, how it gets its job done, ultimately holds the potential to improve brain health and disease management over a person’s lifetime,” said Ronen Gadot, CEO of ElMindA. “BNA adds an objective layer of information to clinical symptom assessments and neurocognitive tests, providing clinicians with a comprehensive view of brain health.”

While most brain monitoring systems require the an invasive insertion of a sensor inside the head, ElMindA’s BNA takes its measurements using a sensor-laden, futuristic-looking “helmet” that contains dozens of electrodes that measure activity through the skull. The sensors are able to measure the electronic activity of the brain at different points, with each sensor recording the activity associated with a specific brain function – thought, memory, activity, and others.

The data is analyzed by specially-developed algorithms based on patented signal processing and pattern recognition techniques that can connect among the signals, revealing three-dimensional images of BNA patterns, or BNAs, which represent high resolution functional neural pathways. The data can aid doctors in the profiling of brain function and changes in functionality, and can assist follow-up of changes in disease progression and/or response to therapeutic interventions.