Brain Injuries

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Brain Injuries

We spent one week at the University of Birmingham under the guidance of Antonio Belli and his research team. During our time, we learnt about the methods used to assess and monitor severe traumatic brain injuries (TBI). These included functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans, electroencephalogram (EEG) and a new method called near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). We also looked at computerised tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of patients, learnt about the aftercare given to them and shadowed a sport concussion clinician. The final two days were used to look at how biomarkers could be used to create an objective way of diagnosing concussion. We extracted microRNA from a saliva sample of a patient and converted it to complementary DNA (CDNA) which is more stable. We then compared this with a control sample to check for biomarkers present that may indicate concussion.

Dhru commented that the highlight of the week for him was their visit to the Sports Concussion clinic. He said it was inspiring to watch how the doctors calmly interacted with their patients and never lost their composure. He also enjoyed watching the thorough tests that the patients went through before their appointments, in order to assess the extent of their injuries.

Will said: ‘My favourite part was looking at CT and MRI scans of the patients’ brains.’ It was interesting to learn about damage caused by different bleeds in the brain and apply existing clinical knowledge to understand how patients would be treated following surgery. I also found near- infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) research fascinating and it will be exciting to see it put to use in hospitals in a few years’ time.’

Jack commented: ‘I particularly enjoyed going to the labs and looking at how scientific research is

commercialised. Being allowed to use specialist equipment to extract and purify RNA was amazing and some of the machinery was amongst the first of its kind in the world, so it was a once in a lifetime experience.’

Kaess talked about the week following their experience: ‘Professor Belli allowed us to shadow in a neurological theatre ward. The operations we observed were a vagus nerve stimulation and a temporal lobectomy. The aims of these procedures were to reduce seizure frequency and severity in an epileptic patient. It was fascinating to see a temporal lobectomy in real life, after having researched this previously as part of my EPQ.’