Prospective Observational Multimodal Neuromonitoring in Adult Neurosciences Intensive Care Unit Patients: Characterization of Noninvasive Cerebral Autoregulation Indices, Quantitative EEG, and Physiologic Correlates Across NSICU Diagnoses
Trial Snapshot
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Status
- Not yet recruiting
- Enrollment
- 300
- Locations
- 1
Study Overview
Brief Summary
This is a prospective observational cohort study of adult patients admitted to the Neurosciences Intensive Care Unit (NSICU) at UT Southwestern Medical Center. The study acquires multimodal neuromonitoring data - including SedLine quantitative EEG (qEEG) from standard-of-care monitoring, Brain4Care (B4C) noninvasive intracranial dynamics monitoring, and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS)-derived cerebral autoregulation (CA) indices where NIRS is already in clinical use - and links these data to bedside physiologic, medication, diagnostic, and clinical outcome variables during standard care. No alteration of clinical management occurs. The study prioritizes aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) patients to characterize the natural history of noninvasive CA parameter evolution through the delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI) window (admission through Day 14) and provides preliminary data for subsequent interventional study design.
Detailed Description
BACKGROUND: Patients admitted to the NSICU undergo rapid physiologic changes related to primary neurologic injury, secondary brain injury, sedation, mechanical ventilation, and evolving systemic illness. Cerebral autoregulation (CA) - the brain's intrinsic mechanism for maintaining stable perfusion across a range of systemic arterial pressures - is measurably impaired in aSAH, traumatic brain injury (TBI), intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), and acute ischemic stroke. In aSAH, CA impairment during the 4-14 day post-rupture window is independently associated with delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI), the leading cause of preventable death and disability in survivors. Approximately 75% of aSAH patients require an external ventricular drain (EVD), which prevents standard ICP-based CA monitoring. B4C extensometry and NIRS-derived CA indices offer EVD-independent monitoring approaches whose feasibility and signal characteristics in aSAH have not been prospectively described.
DESIGN: Single-center prospective observational cohort study at the UT Southwestern NSICU. Eligible subjects may undergo B4C extensometry monitoring (the sole research-specific device under this protocol) and/or have research data recorded from existing standard-of-care clinical monitoring including SedLine qEEG, full-montage long-term monitoring EEG (where clinically ordered), NIRS, invasive ICP/CPP from EVD monitors, transcranial Doppler (TCD; standard of care for aSAH at UT Southwestern), and NeurOptics NPi automated pupillometry. The Moberg Clinical Platform (Moberg Analytics; FDA-cleared) serves as the primary data acquisition hub in the NSICU, aggregating synchronized high-resolution physiologic waveforms from existing bedside monitors without placing any additional research devices.
MONITORING MODALITIES:
Research device placed specifically for research purposes under this protocol:
- Brain4Care (B4C) extensometry: skull-mounted noninvasive sensor recording cranial compliance-related waveform morphology (P2/P1 ratio, Time to Peak), from which surrogate CA indices (nPRx, nCPPopt, nMx) are derived.
Study Design
- Study Type
- Observational
- Observational Model
- Cohort
- Time Perspective
- Prospective
Eligibility Criteria
- Ages
- 18 Years to — (Adult, Older Adult)
- Sex
- All
- Accepts Healthy Volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria
- •Age 18 years or older
- •Admitted to the NSICU at UT Southwestern Medical Center
- •Informed consent obtained from subject or legally authorized representative (as defined under Texas Health and Safety Code Section 166.039), or consent process underway per institutional policy
- •At least one study monitoring modality feasible (SedLine qEEG and/or Brain4Care extensometry); NIRS data collected where already in standard clinical use
Exclusion Criteria
- •Age younger than 18 years
- •Prisoner status
- •Active declination of participation by subject or legally authorized representative
- •Absence of both subject and legally authorized representative consent when required
- •Clinical condition preventing safe placement of any study monitor (e.g., extensive facial or scalp injury, surgical dressings or hardware at all possible sensor sites, open wounds at sensor locations, severe uncontrolled agitation)
- •Anticipated clinical data capture insufficient for meaningful analysis
- •Urgent clinical priorities making research monitor placement inappropriate at time of approach
- •Inability to provide informed consent in English; study consent materials are available in English only
Investigators
Noah Jouett
Principal Investigator, Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Management
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center