Mohammed Islam, and researchers at Michigan Medicine, have engineered a noninvasive, infrared laser to measure brain cells that are in distress. Their novel technology utilizes optical fibers to send pulses of infrared light to the subject’s forehead. The light penetrated down into the brain without harming the patient, allowing interaction with cytochrome C oxidase (CCO).
Previous technology had been capable of providing real-time information on whether the brain is getting oxygen. Now, the new technology gives information on whether the brain cells are able to use that oxygen. This breakthrough technology could enable the early diagnosis of concussions related to trauma. Rapid feedback for concussion diagnosis will provide life-altering treatment in the ER and operating room.
Researcher Mohammed Islam commented on how their device measures COO, “There is a part of CCO that is excited by light with wavelengths between 750 nanometers and 900 nanometers. If you pluck a string on a violin, you hear its resonant frequency. CCO has, if you like, a string that we pluck with our laser, and we see the resonant frequency in the light we record.”