ANTIGONISH: Exciting developments in the field of brain health will make this care more accessible to people in rural Nova Scotia and beyond.
StFX Psychology professor Dr. Erin Mazerolle is developing portable, lower-cost brain imaging technology that could help diagnose issues like concussions, dementia, migraines, and stroke closer to home.
This technology has the potential to reduce wait times and travel, and eventually be used in people’s homes — a game changer for rural Nova Scotia.
“I hope to make an impact by bringing more brain imaging technologies to a rural context,” said Dr. Mazerolle.
“Almost all brain imaging research takes place at large urban centres, which excludes a lot of people.”
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The technology is called Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) and it’s tracking brain blood flow using optical sensors, she explains.
fNIRS is a non-invasive brain imaging tool that is portable, relatively low cost, and much easier to use than traditional imaging methods.
Because of these advantages, it has strong potential to be used in clinical settings to assess conditions such as concussion, dementia and cognitive impairment, migraine, and stroke.
The portable technology also has potential to be taken into people’s homes, giving them access to the resource they need and helping reduce wait times for diagnostic imaging such as MRI.
