Nervous system monitoring method

A method for monitoring the response of a nervous system of a body to a stimulus, comprising collecting a set of voltage measurements between selected areas on a surface of the body whilst current is passed between selected regions of the surface of the body, wherein the set of voltage measurements is collected over a predetermined measurement period, the predetermined measurement period is initiated a predetermined time after application of the stimulus, and the collected voltage measurements are compared with reference measurements to determine normal or abnormal response of the nervous system.

A method for monitoring the response of a predetermined part of a nervous system of a body to an applied stimulus, comprising identifying the predetermined part of the nervous system, applying the stimulus, passing current between selected regions of a surface of the body, and collecting a set of voltage measurements between selected areas on the surface of the body whilst current is being passed, wherein the said regions and/or areas are selected on the basis of a neurological model of the nervous system and the applied stimulus such that sensitivity of the derived impedance measurements to changes in the predetermined part of the nervous system is maximised.

An apparatus for monitoring the response of a nervous system of a body to an applied stimulus comprising means for applying the stimulus to the body, and means for collecting a set of voltage measurements between selected areas on a surface of the body whilst current is being passed between selected regions of the surface of the body, wherein the set of voltage measurements is collected over a predetermined measurement period, the predetermined measurement period is initiated at a predetermined time after application of the stimulus, and means are provided to compare the collected voltage measurements with reference measurements to determine normal or abnormal response of the nervous system.

An apparatus for monitoring the response of a predetermined part of a nervous system of a body to an applied stimulus, comprising means for applying the stimulus, means for passing current between selected regions of the surface of the body, and means for collecting a set of voltage measurements between selected areas on the surface of the body whilst current is being passed, wherein the said regions and/or areas are selected on the basis of a neurological model of the nervous system and the applied stimulus such that the sensitivity of the derived impedance measurements to changes in the predetermined part of the nervous system is maximised.

A method of diagnosing a brain dysfunction, comprising applying a stimulus to a patient, and collecting a set of voltage measurements between selected areas on a surface of the patient's head while current is being passed between selected regions of the surface of the body, wherein the set of voltage measurements is collected over a predetermined measurement period, the predetermined measurement period is initiated at a predetermined time after application of the stimulus, and the collected voltage measurements are compared with reference measurements to determined normal or abnormal response of the nervous system.