NICP

NICP: Non-invasive Intracranial Pressure Monitoring

Sponsor: Philips Healthcare

Principal Investigator at BMC: James Holsapple, MD

Primary Research Contact: Brandon Finn, BA (617-638-8650)

Summary

Intracranial pressure (ICP) is an important "cranial vital sign" to track a variety of conditions affecting the brain and cerebrovascular space. ICP measurement, however, requires surgical penetration of the skull and placement of a pressure-sensitive probe in the brain parenchyma, or insertion of a catheter into the ventricular or extra-ventricular cerebrospinal fluid spaces. This invasiveness and the associated risks cause ICP measurements in current clinical practice to only be made in a small subset of patients whose diagnosis and treatment could benefit from knowing ICP. The overall goal of this study is to assess the feasibility of a noninvasive approach in 210 patients to patient-specific determination and monitoring of ICP in a variety of conditions in which invasive ICP monitoring is currently clinically mandated. 

Enrollment Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Age 18 years and older
2. Patients admitted to the BU intensive care units with critical injuries to their nervous system for a variety of reasons
3. Patients with an ICP measurement device in place (ventricular catheter or parenchymal probe or lumbar puncture needle or lumbar drain), or the clinical plan is to place the ICP device during the current hospital admission

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Patients for whom no Legally Authorized Representative (LAR) consent can be obtained or patients that cannot consent for themselves
2. BU undergraduates
3. BUMC students
4. BU/BMC personnel
5. Pregnant women
6. Wards of the State
7. Prisoners
8. Terminally ill patients
9. Women of childbearing potential
10. Emergency department patients

Status: Actively enrolling patients