Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Associate Professor of Psychiatry Gen Shinozaki, MD, in partnership with John Cromwell, MD, of the University of Iowa Surgery Department, recently secured funding from the University’s Research Foundation Commercialization GAP Fund Program to test a new device-driven approach to screening for and predicting postoperative delirium.

Shinozaki says he and Cromwell are exploring new methods of screening for delirium that are based on simplified electroencephalography (EEG). The EEG, or “brain wave,” test has long been used to study epilepsy, but also has value in the detection of delirium. The project aims to test a new smaller, simpler, and more readily portable EEG device. Establishing the value of this approach, which can be used by a wide range of providers, will be important for the widespread dissemination of this kind of delirium screening.

The need for technology to detect and predict delirium is enormous, as there is a high mortality rate and elevated medical costs when the condition goes unrecognized in patients.