About our research
Traumatic brain injury and neuro-monitoring
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the most common causes of death and the reason why people live with acquired disabilities. Today, there are no good established medical treatments for patients with TBI. Therefore, research for these patients is very important. Our overall goals are to better understand who is adversely affected by TBI, underlying injury mechanisms and how we can best monitor these and ultimately improve treatment based on this.
Our research is conducted with local, national and international partners.
We conduct several epidemiological, prospective and translational studies. Some main ongoing research projects are described below.
Research projects
Stockholm scorE of LEsion development on Computerized Tomography following mild Traumatic Brain Injury - SELECT-TBI
Together with the emergency hospitals in Region Stockholm, we are trying to create improved conditions to see which patients will have bleeding on X-ray examinations after mild TBI and which of these will deteriorate in their injuries and require more care. This multicenter study is done together with doctors at Norrtälje Hospital, Karolinska University Hospital, Danderyd Hospital, Södersjukhuset and S:t Görans Hospital.
DYNAMIC prediction model of outcome following TBI (DYNAMIC-TBI)
Intensive care for TBI involves hundreds of data points, all of which are monitored to improve patient care by quickly identifying when a patient is deteriorating. As the human brain is likely to be limited in its ability to see all possible correlations that may matter to the patient, we want to try to use artificial intelligence (AI) to create dynamic prediction models for these patients. Using these, we hope to be able to quickly identify these patients 24 hours before a deterioration occurs and thus prioritize resources on the right patients in time, which we believe will ultimately increase survival and outcomes for our patients. This is a collaboration with the University of Manitoba, Canada and Helsinki University Hospital, Finland.
LONG-term effects of TBI (LONG-TBI)
Patients with TBI have been found to have a higher risk of other types of neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis (MS) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Exactly why these conditions occur after a TBI is not fully understood, but changes in blood vessels and various inflammatory processes over time have been suggested as possible causes. To better understand why this happens and find better biomarkers for finding individuals who are affected by a TBI over time with an increased risk of these sequelae, we want to study this through translational studies. This is done with partners around Sweden.
Geriatric Related pAthophysiologY in TBI (GRAY-TBI)
The elderly population is disproportionately affected by TBI, and more and more severely. This is probably related to socioeconomic changes with an aging population, but also other processes in the aging brain can probably influence a poorer recovery after injury. We therefore want to study this by comparing and studying X-ray examinations from young and old individuals with TBI and see how these differ, and how the energy is dissipated differently between a young and old brain. We also want to study this in preclinical TBI models for Alzheimer's disease and aging. This collaboration is done together with the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) and other partners at KI.