DOC-BOX - Development of a multimodal toolbox to ensure a fast and reliable diagnosis of consciousness disorders
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Birmingham
Department Name: School of Psychology
Abstract
DoCBox aims to develop a new toolbox of fast and easy-to-implement behavioural, neuroimaging and neurophysiological
assessments to accurately assess and diagnose patients suffering from a disorder of consciousness (DoC), allowing for a more
comprehensive examination and better management of this vulnerable population. This toolbox will respond to the society needs
regarding the evaluation of patients with DoC as it appropriately responds to the rigid time constraints of clinical settings, which are
one of the biggest limitations for an accurate diagnosis. This project aims to enhance interdisciplinary research on DoC via an
exchange of knowledge and international scientific cooperation to translate and validate the tools (e.g., behavioral scales, pipelines)
that will be included in this toolbox. This collaboration between the partners underpins the credibility and feasibility of three research
objectives:
1) Provide new bedside assessment tools to refine and optimize the detection of consciousness signs in post-comatose patients;
2) Identify the most accurate neurophysiological and neuroimaging biomarkers of consciousness states and develop novel easy-touse software to implement these analyses in clinical settings;
3) Engage informal and formal caregivers in the diagnosis of DoC patients.
This will ultimately result in guidelines and policy recommendations for improvement of DoC patients' diagnosis and thus care. The
proposed exchange program aims to bring together a large international and interdisciplinary consortium of 17 partners (EU and
non-EU countries) including researchers and other professionals with all necessary skills, permitting to tackle the challenges faced by
professionals when studying and caring for DoC patients. The benefits for Europe are the intersector and interdisciplinary massive
data collected by this consortium, which will allow a major progress in the understanding of (disorders of) consciousness.
assessments to accurately assess and diagnose patients suffering from a disorder of consciousness (DoC), allowing for a more
comprehensive examination and better management of this vulnerable population. This toolbox will respond to the society needs
regarding the evaluation of patients with DoC as it appropriately responds to the rigid time constraints of clinical settings, which are
one of the biggest limitations for an accurate diagnosis. This project aims to enhance interdisciplinary research on DoC via an
exchange of knowledge and international scientific cooperation to translate and validate the tools (e.g., behavioral scales, pipelines)
that will be included in this toolbox. This collaboration between the partners underpins the credibility and feasibility of three research
objectives:
1) Provide new bedside assessment tools to refine and optimize the detection of consciousness signs in post-comatose patients;
2) Identify the most accurate neurophysiological and neuroimaging biomarkers of consciousness states and develop novel easy-touse software to implement these analyses in clinical settings;
3) Engage informal and formal caregivers in the diagnosis of DoC patients.
This will ultimately result in guidelines and policy recommendations for improvement of DoC patients' diagnosis and thus care. The
proposed exchange program aims to bring together a large international and interdisciplinary consortium of 17 partners (EU and
non-EU countries) including researchers and other professionals with all necessary skills, permitting to tackle the challenges faced by
professionals when studying and caring for DoC patients. The benefits for Europe are the intersector and interdisciplinary massive
data collected by this consortium, which will allow a major progress in the understanding of (disorders of) consciousness.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Damian Cruse (Principal Investigator) |
| Description | Training in assessment tools |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | We trained approximately 25 staff who work in rehabilitation of patients with severe brain injuries in the NHS and private sector in the use of two key clinical assessments. These staff were all experts in working with this patient group, but had no or limited experience in these specific assessment tools, which are themselves recommended by the Royal College of Physicians, and are used as standard for clinical trials and research with disorders of consciousness worldwide. This benefits the in-house processes of assessing and monitoring their patients, increases staff capacity, and benefits our and future research by ensuring that these sites can provide standardised data. |