When you go to the doctor for a check-up, your vital signs, such as your blood pressure, are tested, but there’s no quick assessment for evaluating one of the most vital organs: your brain. The only tools available to doctors – CT scans and MRIs – are costly in terms of both time and money. This is potentially expensive to the health of Canadians – whether it is because an issue is not recognized early enough for speedy intervention, or in recovery and quality of life for those who have experienced strokes, concussions or other neurological damage.
Two years ago, Bimal Lakhani (BSc Kinesiology ’07) moved from straight academic research to working with a company that is developing technology to address this challenge. Lakhani says, “We’re taking 70 years of scientific research and packaging it using software and algorithms into the NeuroCatch Platform – a six-minute test that automatically analyzes brain function right in a family doctor’s office.” On the market since March, the tool is a portable hardware and software system that triggers, captures and translates EEG signals into a standardized clinical report.
It’s not what Lakhani thought he would be doing when he came to UWaterloo. He enrolled in Kinesiology for two reasons: the co-op program and the knowledge that first-year human anatomy students had the unique opportunity to work in the cadaver lab. At the time, Lakhani thought he would go into physiotherapy, but his first co-op terms showed him that this career wasn’t quite for him. It was in his third co-op term as a research assistant that he found both his life’s work and his mentor, Professor Bill McIlroy (now department chair). He worked with McIlroy through the rest of his undergraduate and graduate degrees, continuing research with the goal of improving the overall quality of life for individuals affected by neurological disorders such as strokes, both understanding their challenges and working on better rehabilitation technologies, such as the one being developed by his company, HealthTech Connex.
Across the hall from his company is a neurorehabilitation clinic, which incorporates scientifically validated medical technologies directly into clinical practice, including the NeuroCatch Platform. Lakhani says, “I’m blown away to see how the device is being used and starting to make an impact alongside these other disruptive technologies. We see people come in and within a few weeks, many are able to walk independently as a result of the specialized rehabilitation they receive, and the NeuroCatch Platform is there objectively assessing their brain function every step of the way."
