According to a paper published in the Journal of Medical Virology in February 2020, a significant number of COVID-19 patients admitted to intensive care may have neurological diseases in addition to acute respiratory failure. The authors of the paper-based their conclusion on COVID-19’s similarity to other coronaviruses in sequence, pathogenesis, and cellular entry.
The COVID-19 pandemic threat to medical professionals and healthcare workers motivated Brain Scientific, Inc.‘s subsidiary Memory MD to fast-track the development of a disposable EEG headset. NeuroCap is a pre-gelled EEG headset with 19 active channels and 22 electrodes. Memory MD states that NeuroCap’s fixed electrode placement conforms to the 10-20 System, an internationally recognized method to locate scalp electrodes. NeuroCap is compatible with encephalographs and EEG signal amplifiers, including Memory MD’s NeuroEEG amplifier. The NeuroCap can initiate EEG studies in less than five minutes when used with NeuroEEG.
Setup time is important when placing an EEG headset because healthcare staff must be close to the patient. The primary design goal was a headset that clinical staff could apply to a patient’s head quickly and efficiently, minimizing the chance for exposure to COVID-19. According to the company, the FDA cleared the NeuroCap as a single-use EEG headset. Memory MD has applied for patents in the U.S., Europe, and China. The primary markets are emergency departments, intensive care units, urgent care clinics, ambulatory and outpatient settings, and telehealth.
Following successful initial trials with three hospitals in New York City, Texas, and New England, all three have placed large orders for NeuroCap, according to a Brain Scientific news release. The company is currently in negotiations with U.S. ISO 9001.13485 manufacturers to meet the rapidly increasing demand.
