Lawrence + Memorial Hospital introduces new rapid response EEG brain monitoring device

NEW LONDON, CT (Jan. 4, 2022) Lawrence + Memorial (L+M) Hospital recently added a sophisticated brain monitoring device that provides early identification of silent seizures in critically ill patients being treated in the hospital’s Intensive Care or Critical Care Unit.

“The urgency to both detect and treat a seizure within 30 minutes to protect the brain has been very well documented in medical literature,” said Niall Duhig, MD, a specialist in Critical Care Medicine at L+M. “This new technology provides a rapid way to diagnose patients and reduce the waiting time that can be associated with obtaining a standard EEG.”

An Electroencephalogram (EEG) detects electrical activity abnormalities in the brain. It is a common test used to diagnose brain disorders like epilepsy, brain damage from trauma, and stroke. Traditional EEG tests are time-intensive and can take several hours to set up.

The Ceribell EEG Rapid Response monitor consists of a simple headband, a pocket-size data recorder and an online portal for staff to remotely view the patient’s neurologic activity and determine if the patient is having a seizure and needs immediate intervention. With L+M physicians and nurses having access to Ceribell they can now perform the test right in the patient’s room.

“This device is another tool to help provide better care for our patients,” said Kevin Torres, DO, associate chief medical officer at L+M. “With this monitor we can diagnose non-convulsive seizures earlier and initiate the right treatment plan faster.”

Critically ill patients are at high risk of harmful brainwave patterns called seizures. The majority of these patients experience a type of seizure that shows no outward signs (non-convulsive) and can only be detected using EEG. If prolonged, non-convulsive seizures can lead to permanent brain injury, higher risk of morbidity and mortality, and longer hospital stay. As a result, guidelines from the Neurocritical Care Society recommend EEG should be initiated within 15-60 minutes when these seizures are suspected. Meeting these guidelines has proven challenging due to the limitations of conventional EEG systems, which were not designed for use in emergency situations.

There are many advantages to the portable EEG device:

• It can be set-up by any healthcare provider in just five minutes

• Clinicians with no prior background in EEG can triage seizure in minutes

• Automatic monitoring and an alert system enable rapid identification of harmful brain patterns

• Physicians can remotely review the EEG in real-time and assess response to treatment

The device has also been rolled out at Bridgeport and Greenwich hospitals.

Lawrence + Memorial Hospital, a member of Yale New Haven Health, is a non-profit, 308-bed general and acute care hospital providing patient care to medical, surgical, pediatric, psychiatric and obstetrical patients in southeastern Connecticut and southern Rhode Island since 1912. Lawrence + Memorial offers cardiac acute, step-down and rehabilitation programs and is the only eastern Connecticut hospital that performs emergency and elective angioplasty. www.lmhospital.org