Detecting Residual Awareness in Patients With Prolonged Disorders of Consciousness: An fNIRS Study

Frontiers in Neurology

Xueling Chen²  Yi Yang²  Yuanyuan Dang²  Jianghong He²  Yujin Zhang³  Rixing Jing⁴  Yuhang Gao⁴  Juanning Si⁴  Meng Li⁴ 

[1] Brainnetome Center, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China;Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China;National Laboratory of Pattern Recognition, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China;School of Instrumentation Science and Opto-Electronics Engineering, Beijing Information Science and Technology University, Beijing, China;

关键词: disorders of consciousness;    functional near-infrared spectroscopy;    motor imagery;    support vector machine;    minimally consciousness state;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fneur.2021.618055

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Recent advances in neuroimaging technologies have provided insights into detecting residual consciousness and assessing cognitive abilities in patients with disorders of consciousness (DOC). Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is non-invasive and portable and can be used for longitudinal bedside monitoring, making it uniquely suited for evaluating brain function in patients with DOC at appropriate spatiotemporal resolutions. In this pilot study, an active command-driven motor imagery (MI) paradigm based on fNIRS was used to detect residual consciousness in patients with prolonged DOC. A support vector machine (SVM) classifier was used to classify yes-or-no responses. The results showed that relatively reliable responses were detected from three out of five patients in a minimally consciousness state (MCS). One of the patients answered all the questions accurately when assessed according to this method. This study confirmed the feasibility of using portable fNIRS technology to detect residual cognitive ability in patients with prolonged DOC by active command-driven motor imagery. We hope to detect the exact level of consciousness in DOC patients who may have a higher level of consciousness.

【 授权许可】

Unknown