Seconds count when loss of blood or a heart attack starves someone’s brain of oxygen. If paramedics could use an electroencephalograph (EEG) at the scene of an accident, it could be a lifesaver. But interpreting brain waves needs much more skill than checking, say, a heart rhythm on an ECG, so Jordan Neuroscience of San Bernadino, California, has developed a self-interpreting EEG unit (WO 02/064024).
It comprises head-mounted electrodes to pick up brain waves, and a filter to separate them into the key alpha, beta, theta and delta frequency bands. The machine compares energy levels in the four bands…
