Patent ID: 11969256
Assignee: NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 20:
21. A method for assessing a subject's recovery from a non-penetrating brain injury, the method comprising:
(a) in response to a brain injury of the subject, performing an acute evaluation of the subject's brain response to an acoustic stimulus by:
(i) fitting the subject with electrodes to measure voltage potentials generated from the subject's brain;
(ii) administering to the subject an acoustic stimulus comprising a complex sound;
(iii) recording voltage potentials from the subject's brain for at least the duration of the acoustic stimulus;
(iv) analyzing the voltage potentials to determine at least one component of the brain response to the acoustic stimulus; and
(v) identifying a value for at least one component of the brain response that is anomalous;
wherein the at least one component of the brain response is fundamental frequency (F0), neural timing of a sustained response peak, response amplitude over a time window that comprises some or all of the complex sound, and stimulus-response correlation over a time window that encompasses some or all of the complex sound;

(b) re-testing the subject's brain response to the acoustic stimulus at a later time by repeating steps a(i) to a(iv), and then identifying a value for the at least one component of the brain response that was anomalous in step (a)(v) (“the re-test value”); and
(c) calculating the difference between the anomalous value and the re-test value;
wherein the subject is determined to be recovering from the non-penetrating brain injury if there is a change in the re-test value that is greater than would be expected by chance, and the direction of the change indicates an improvement in the component of the brain response; and
wherein the subject is determined to not be recovering from the non-penetrating brain injury if (a) there is not a change in the re-test value that is greater than would be expected by chance, and the direction of the change indicates an improvement in the component of the brain response, or (b) when there is a change in the re-test value that is greater than would be expected by chance, and the direction of the change indicates a deterioration in the component of the brain response.