# Noninvasive transcranial detection of intracranial hemorrhage using a tri-coil handheld portable eddy current damping imaging device

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · 2021 · $408,993

## Abstract

Project Summary: Noninvasive transcranial detection of intracranial hemorrhage using a tri-coil handheld
portable eddy current damping imaging device
Stroke and traumatic brain injury (TBI) are common causes of death and permanent disability worldwide, costing
the U.S. health system more than $71 billion per year in lost productivity and medical expenses. Existing
paradigms for stroke/TBI diagnosis require computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance (MR) imaging to
classify ischemic versus hemorrhagic variants prior to intervention, as treatment for these conditions varies
widely. Delays in diagnosis and issues related to transport of unstable patients associated with diagnostic
imaging increase the likelihood of neurological injury and death. Translational medical devices that accelerate
time-to-treatment in the field or hospital setting may help to reduce morbidity and mortality in stroke/TBI patients
on a global level. Our team has developed a portable, rapid and noninvasive imaging and detection device based
on eddy current damping (ECD) sensors that can detect brain hemorrhages associated with stroke and TBI, and
have demonstrated feasibility in a benchtop, human cadaver and clinical patient setting. This device can
potentially diagnose and classify hemorrhagic stroke/TBI subtypes with accurate spatial localization in minutes,
rather than hours, thereby guiding early responders and medical providers in making time-sensitive medical
decisions for clinical intervention, such as administration of tissue plasminogen activator for ischemic stroke. Our
overall goal is to demonstrate the effectiveness of this novel stroke detection device in rapidly triaging stroke/TBI
patients and achieving a level of diagnostic accuracy capable of guiding clinical intervention. We hypothesize
that: 1) Regional conductivity changes in brain tissue can be imaged and detected using the portable ECD
sensor; 2) Hemorrhagic stroke and TBI-related hemorrhages will increase regional conductivity, whereas
ischemic stroke will decrease dependent brain conductivity in affected ischemic regions; and 3) Portable stroke
imaging may reduce time-to-treatment and diagnosis associated with stroke/TBI. To test these hypotheses, we
aim to: 1) Perform benchtop laboratory experiments to further elucidate how direction and magnitude of
measured conductivity changes can differentiate stroke subtype and location, 2) Use validated human cadaver
stroke simulation models to optimize ECD tri-coil array sensor detection of hemorrhage depth, volume, and
location, 3) Utilize machine learning algorithms to quickly classify brain lesions with high accuracy, and 4)
Implement early clinical stroke/TBI ECD sensor device testing to gauge effectiveness in live human patients,
compared to CT/MR imaging. Development of methods for rapid bedside stroke/TBI diagnosis will provide
practitioners with knowledge required to rapidly administer life-saving treatments, thereby improving patient
quality of lif...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10100064
- **Project number:** 1R01NS119596-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Gabriel Zada
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $408,993
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-01-15 → 2025-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10100064

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10100064, Noninvasive transcranial detection of intracranial hemorrhage using a tri-coil handheld portable eddy current damping imaging device (1R01NS119596-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10100064. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*