Design of a portable venomanometer system for episcleral venous pressure measurement

Abstract

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) has been considered a precarious health issue especially within the military population. Research has shown that early treatment of TBI could reduce possible neurocognitive injury. However, the nature of military triage has created challenges for early TBI detection. Intracranial pressure (ICP), which is used as a biomarker of outcomes in TBI, is not only expensive to measure but is also invasive and requires specialized surgical and procedural skills. Episcleral venous pressure (EVP) was proven to be a good alternative biomarker to ICP. However, the current technology in measuring EVP is not portable, and requires a skilled operator with a slit-lamp for testing. Moreover, the measurement is highly subjective and depends on the operator's skill and technique. Therefore, there is a critical need for alternative technology for non-clinical TBI diagnosis. In this paper, we present an improved venomanometer design for measuring EVP in the field.