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The Role of MEG in Assessment and Diagnosis In mTBI

Conditions
Brain Injuries, Traumatic
Interventions
Other: Multimodal imaging
Registration Number
NCT03867513
Lead Sponsor
University of Nottingham
Brief Summary

Head injuries are responsible for 1.4 million visits to hospital each year in the United Kingdom (UK). Most patients are allowed home the same day and make a full recovery, but some will have persistent symptoms. The investigators aim to use the latest generation of imaging technology to investigate those with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) to better assess them.

The investigators will invite patients presenting following trauma to the Emergency Department at Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham, UK to participate. The investigators will compare those who have a suffered an mTBI to those who have non-head traumatic injuries. The investigators will use two magnetoencephalogram (MEG) systems and ultra-high field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to record the functioning and structure of the brain within days of participants' injury. The investigators will test memory and thinking skills, then follow participants for six months, record the severity of participants' symptoms, and find out who does not make a full recovery.

Multimodal imaging will consist of a standard MEG device using Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID) sensors, a novel MEG device using Optically Pumped Magnetometer (OPM) sensors and seven Tesla MRI. The investigators will test whether these innovative imaging techniques are more sensitive to the acute damage that mTBI causes than routine imaging. The investigators will also test whether early imaging can reveal who is most seriously affected, identifying those who will not recover without additional support. It is currently not clear what the predominant mechanism of damage that causes these long-term problems is and the investigators hope this study will address this. The Medical Research Council is funding this work

Detailed Description

Not available

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
UNKNOWN
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
60
Inclusion Criteria

Not provided

Exclusion Criteria

Not provided

Study & Design

Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Study Design
Not specified
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Acute trauma controlsMultimodal imagingNon-head trauma controls matched for age and sex with the mTBI group
mTBI casesMultimodal imagingThose diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) without abnormality on standard brain structural imaging, LOC ≤30mins, amnesia for ≤24hours, GCS ≥13 at all times and recovery to GCS 15 within 24hours)
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Can mTBI participants be differentiated from non-head injured controls by measuring brain wave activity?Within two weeks of injury

To measure and localize abnormal resting-state slow wave activity in an mTBI population in the acute stage (\< 2 weeks post injury). Voxel-wise source reconstruction of MEG resting state data using a beamforming approach will be used to generate a normative database of brain activity in the cohort of age and sex matched non-head injured trauma participants. The investigators will compare the oscillatory power in the theta and alpha frequency band between the mTBI cohort and the normative database to generate statistical maps of abnormal brain activity on a per participant basis. These will be assessed for statistically significant loci of abnormal slow wave power.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Is the SQUID or OPM MEG system preferred by participants for tolerability and ease of use?Within two weeks of injury

Participant preference for the SQUID or OPM MEG system will be recorded after both scanning sessions have been completed.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

University of Nottingham

🇬🇧

Nottingham, United Kingdom

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