| Infrared Imaging System for Studying Brain Function |
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| NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California | |
| Jun 30 2007 | |
This would be an alternative to large, expensive, immobile fMRI systems.
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A proposed special-purpose infrared imaging system would be a compact, portable, less-expensive alternative to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) systems heretofore used to study brain function. Whereas a typical fMRI system fills a large room, and must be magnetically isolated, this system would fit into a bicycle helmet. The system would include an assembly that would be mounted inside the padding in a modified bicycle helmet or other suitable headgear. The assembly would include newly designed infrared photodetectors and dataacquisition circuits on integrated-circuit chips on low-thermal-conductivity supports in evacuated housings (see figure) arranged in multiple rows and columns that would define image coordinates. Each housing would be springloaded against the wearer’s head. The chips would be cooled by a small Stirling Engine mounted contiguous to, but thermally isolated from, the portions of the assembly in thermal contact with the wearer’s head. Flexible wires or cables for transmitting data from the aforementioned chips would be routed to an integrated, multichannel transmitter and thence through the top of the assembly to a patch antenna on the outside of the helmet.
 Each Sensor would contain an infrared-detector integrated-circuit chip mounted on a cold finger on a low-thermal-conductivity support in a vacuum. Hence, this system could be used in research on, and for the diagnosis of response from the wearer’s brain to physiological, psychological, and environmental changes in real time. The images would also be stored in a relational database for comparison with corresponding responses previously observed in other subjects. This work was done by Frederick Mintz, Philip Moynihan, and Sarath Gunapala of Caltech for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. For more information, download the Technical Support Package (free white paper) at www.techbriefs.com/tsp under the Bio-Medical category.
In accordance with Public Law 96-517,
the contractor has elected to retain title to this
invention. Inquiries concerning rights for its
commercial use should be addressed to: Refer to NPO-43932, volume and number of this NASA Tech Briefs issue, and the page number. This Brief includes a Technical Support Package (TSP).
Infrared Imaging System for Studying Brain Function (reference NPO-43932) is currently available for download from the TSP library. Login first to download.
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