Continuous intracranial pressure monitoring is a rather invasive procedure requiring a burr hole in the skull, while intermittent readings could involve spinal taps. There’s now a promising sign that all that may be about to change, as researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital are now using a special hearing test to gauge intracranial pressure non-invasively.
The test is called Distortion Product Otoacoustic Emission (DPOAE), and it involves transmitting two tones of a specific sound frequency into the ear canal. So far a proof-of-concept study has shown that the test may be a viable test for detecting increased intracranial pressure levels in adults, and they’re already working with children to be able to offer it to younger patients.
While the proof-of-concept study has shown promise, the current efforts are focusing on identifying which sound frequencies are most indicative of the pressure inside the brain.
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