BrainProtect · The first real-time monitoring and non-invasive medical device for personalised brain damage prevention during cardiac surgery

Over 2M Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) surgeries are carried out each year globally. Up to 83% of CPB surgeries result in neurological complications such as delirium and post-operative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) which significantly contribute to increased morbidity, disability, decreased quality of life and mortality rates up to 33% after 1 year. Only 45% of patients fully recover from neurological complications after 1 year post cardiac surgery, and in many cases severe brain damage is irreversible. Economic burden is huge amounting to €8.4B direct costs/year in the EU & US.Monitoring Cerebral blood flow autoregulation (CA) and maintaining adequate patient specific brain perfusion during CPB surgery is critical to prevent neurological injury. However, none of the current technologies is capable to identify cerebral blood flow autoregulation impairments before the neurons die within 4-5 minutes. This calls for the need for advanced solutions to protect patients’ brain and optimize neurological outcomes during CPB.ScienceForBrain has developed BrainProtect, a patented, novel periodic rectangular modulation of blood flow during CPB, making it possible for the first time to monitor CA transient functions almost in real- time and to identify start and finish moments of brain insults in individual patient with only 15-30 second delay. This enables targeted interventions to restore optimal personalised brain perfusion and protect the brain during CPB surgery. BrainProtect has the potential to reduce the risk of POCD and delirium by at least 50%, saving lives, improving QoL for patients and reducing €231M annually in direct healthcare costs.BrainProtect is currently at TRL6, we obtained excellent preliminary results in clinical trials with 173 patients, and we now need support from the EIC to perform a multi-centred, double-blinded, clinical trial including 300 patients in the EU to get regulatory approval and successfully launch BrainProtect in the market by 2027.