Early bedside biomarkers of cognitive function following neonatal brain injury

Problems during birth can lead to a lack of oxygen reaching the brain and cause brain injury. Ilias is developing instrumentation and methods to monitor the status of the injured brain non-invasively at the infant's cot. Ilias’s instruments utilise a technique called NIRS that uses low light levels to measure the distribution of oxygen and blood in the brain and how oxygen is being utilised by cells. Ilias’s instruments and methods are able to monitor the metabolic status of the brain tissue by measuring the status of the cytochrome-c-oxidase, an enzyme found in mitochondria, the power factory of the cell.