Dry In-ear Critical Care Electroencephalography (DICCE)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Electroencephalogram (EEG) after traumatic brain injury in a critical care setting using a novel dry in-ear EEG compared to current practice using scalp EEG
IRAS ID
323712
Contact name
George Peck
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Imperial College London
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Clinical electroencephalography (EEG) is an important investigation commonly used in the management of patients with impaired conscious level after traumatic brain injury. It is principally used to assess the severity of cerebral dysfunction after injury but additionally in a subgroup of patients to rule out subclinical seizure activity as a cause for persistent impaired consciousness. This contributes towards prognostication and helps guide clinical decision making.
Currently EEG is recorded using scalp electrodes. This requires relatively expensive equipment and specialist staff to apply a large number of electrodes alongside a conductive gel to the patient’s scalp. This is a time-consuming process and due to current limitations in NHS resources it can commonly take between 1-3 days for EEG to be performed after requests are made.
Our group have developed a novel, dry in-ear EEG recording device similar to an ear plug. We propose to use this in intubated adults in an intensive care setting with impaired consciousness after traumatic brain injury. In patients who are already undergoing a clinical EEG as part of their routine care, we will additionally and simultaneously record from our in-ear device. Contemporaneous assessments will allow us to evaluate the clinical performance of in-ear EEG against the gold standard of scalp EEG. We will perform this comparison with the support of clinical neurophysiology technicians and neurophysiologists, who will subjectively interpret both in-ear and scalp EEG recordings.
If successful, this technology could make obtaining clinical EEG in an ICU setting a quick and immediate process that will allow prompt decision making and thus has the potential to dramatically improve length of stay on intensive care units with significant associated financial benefits to NHS Trusts.
REC name
West Midlands - Coventry & Warwickshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/WM/0178
Date of REC Opinion
19 Sep 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion