An invention by North scientists is set to be a real eye-opener for the medical world. The portable pupilometer will allow doctors to accurately measure reactions in people's eyes, helping them to diagnose life-threatening head injuries.
Most medical staff check for head injuries by shining a light into the eyes and making a rough measurement of how much pupils contract. The new device developed by an anaesthetist and medical technologist at Newcastle General Hospital gives the first exact measurement of how much pupils dilate, making it possible for medical staff to closely monitor changes in a patient's condition. The device could potentially be used by paramedics at accident scenes, in intensive care and by psychologists.
Anaesthetist Dr Tom Clark, who also works as a medical adviser to the North-East Ambulance Service, identified the need for a pupilometer. He said: "These devices are used in a different way already working with diabetic patients - but if this invention takes off every ambulance in the land could use one to check for head injuries. They would be very useful in intensive care units so that when different nurses check the patient they can print out the results and compare them with previous readings." The pupilometer is currently being trialled on volunteers at Newcastle General Hospital.
Andy Clark, senior medical technologist, at the regional medical physics department, has worked for two years to shrink the original device from the size of a laser printer to a prototype the size of a mobile phone. The prototype has to be attached to a laptop computer before the results can be downloaded and printed out as a graph but the designers are currently in discussion with manufacturers to incorporate a results screen into the device. Andy said: "We have designed the device so that it can be made from easily accessible and cheap materials fairly quickly. Three manufacturers are currently in discussions to licence the pupilometer."
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