# Continuous Photoacoustic Monitoring of Neonatal Stroke in Intensive Care Unit

> **NIH NIH R41** · BRIMROSE TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION · 2022 · $344,468

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Neonatal encephalopathy can arise from fetal hypoxia-ischemia during labor, chronic uteroplacental
inflammation, and large cerebral artery embolization primarily arising from dislodgement of a placental thrombus.
Because of overlapping clinical presentation, differential diagnosis is often delayed until seizures develop and
MRI can be safely performed, a time at which most neuroprotectants are ineffective. Whereas hypothermia is
approved for use within 6 hours of birth for hypoxia-ischemia, no treatments have been approved for perinatal
arterial ischemic stroke because of the difficulty of definitive diagnosis required for clinical trial stratification at
birth. With an estimated incidence of 17-93 per 100,000 live births, the incidence of stroke in the perinatal period
rivals the incidence of stroke in adults (17-23 per 100,000). Therefore, a device that could rapidly and reliably
identify an area of focal cerebral ischemia soon after birth would have a major impact by enabling the testing of
neuroprotectants at an early therapeutic time window that would maximize efficacy. The Brimrose Technology
Corporation, partnering with Johns Hopkins University, propose a photoacoustic helmet (PAH) device that can
be safely deployed at the bedside in the neonatal intensive care unit to 1) continuously monitor and rapidly
identify at-risk neonates, shortly after birth, rapidly allowing them to be triaged to therapy; 2) monitor the progress
of therapy; and 3) provide prognostic information to the parents of newborns at risk for life-long brain injury. The
PA imaging mechanism is a purely hybrid mechanism, providing rich optical absorbance contrast of tissue oxy-
and deoxyhemoglobin through intact scalp and skull. A proof-of-concept of detecting decreased tissue
oxyhemoglobin in a 1 cm-induced experimental stroke has been demonstrated with standard laboratory PA laser
light source and clinical ultrasound detector. Our goal is to incorporate safer light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and
more sensitive ultrasound detectors configured in a neonatal helmet to localize cortical regions of low
oxygenation in the newborn. In the proposed Phase-I STTR, we will develop fundamental hardware and software
components for effective integration. Aim 1 - Software for safe PAH imaging at high contrast resolution, including
deep neural network and optimal spectral unmixing techniques to enable a safe and high-speed LED-based PAH
system. Aim 2 - Hardware for modular PAH system, including a fiber-coupled Brimrose ultra-sensitive multi-
bounce laser microphone and optimal modular unit design for a PAH imaging at high spatial-temporal-spectral
resolution through intact scalp and skull. Aim 3 - Framework for modular PAH system integration, enabling a
robust integration of modular units in a PAH system with rigid-body tag registration using optical tracking, in
which different neonatal head shapes and need for different imaging specifications can be accommodated. T...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10548689
- **Project number:** 1R41EB033758-01
- **Recipient organization:** BRIMROSE TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
- **Principal Investigator:** Emad M Boctor
- **Activity code:** R41 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $344,468
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-09-02 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10548689

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10548689, Continuous Photoacoustic Monitoring of Neonatal Stroke in Intensive Care Unit (1R41EB033758-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10548689. Licensed CC0.

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