Professor Emeritus John Connolly (pictured) is leading the research. The hope is that quicker diagnoses will result in quicker and more accurate treatment plans for patients. Photo credit: McMaster Unversity/JD Howell
New brain health assessment technology is being developed at McMaster University and has recently gained new partnerships with Boston University and the Canadian Armed Forces.
John Connolly, a professor emeritus at McMaster who specializes in clinical and cognitive neuroscience, is leading the research. Connolly has appointments in the Faculty of Engineering, Science, and Health Sciences, and is the former Senator William McMaster Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience.
Connolly co-founded the healthcare technology company VoxNeuro in 2017 which developed Cognitive Health Assessment Management Platform (CHAMP) software. He is the company’s chief science officer. That software, paired with electroencephalography (EEG) technology, gives clinicians a way to perform objective brain health assessments which can be used to diagnose patients with brain injuries.
CHAMP software was approved by Health Canada and the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last year. VoxNeuro is now involved in clinical studies of the technology.
Two studies have been launched with Boston University which will evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the technology in evaluating patients suffering from mild traumatic brain injury/concussion and Alzheimer’s.
The hope is that quicker diagnoses will result in quicker and more accurate treatment plans for patients.
Another study is taking place in partnership with the Canadian Armed Forces to study cognitive issues that veterans and military personnel face.
The process involves measuring a person’s ability to function in regard to attention and concentration, information processing, and memory. While clinicians normally resort to behavourial assessments to diagnose a patient, the worry is that those subjective methods of diagnosis leave too much room for error.
A person who undergoes the assessment will do a series of neuropsychological tests on a computer while EEG electrodes sit on their scalp. The process takes under an hour.
“I think one of the most important aspects of what we do is to provide objective measures of cognitive function rather than subjective opinion of the patient as to their well-being,” Connolly told McMaster’s Brighter World earlier this month.
“Using subjective methods of assessment have been known to be wrong up to 43 per cent of the time in assessing patients diagnosed with unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (preciously known as vegetative state),” he continued.
The technology was developed while working with the McMaster Industry Liaison Office (MILO) and McMaster’s business incubator The Forge.
Based in Hamilton, Ontario, Kevin Geenen reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on social media. He is a regular contributor with The Hamilton Independent and has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. He is known for Hamilton Neighbourhood Watch crime updates and no-nonsense news graphics. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa and later graduated with a Bachelor of Arts. He also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal from Governor General David Johnston and formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. He is currently employed as an Office Administrator at RE/MAX Escarpment. His journalistic work is independent of his other positions.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
