Aside from the heart, the brain is without a doubt the most important organ in the body. The brain is only able to withstand a certain amount of pressure in order for it to remain healthy and function properly. It is not meant to significantly stretch or expand, which is why it is protected by a hard skull. High intracranial pressure (ICP) can be caused by anything from a head injury, to a stroke, to a tumor. It is the primary cause of death in neurosurgical patients, and can lead to irreversible damage even if the patient survives.
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The most effective way to determine and treat intracranial pressure issues is through proper intracranial pressure monitoring. ICP monitoring involves a device inserted into the head to monitor the pressure inside the skull, which then sends measurements to a recording device. Intracranial pressure monitoring can be done in three ways: intracranial catheter, subdural screw, or epidural sensor. External ventricular drainage monitors or EVDs are becoming one of the most widely used ICP monitors because of their accuracy and ability to both measure and treat high ICP levels through drainage of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).
Being able to measure ICP quickly and effectively could mean the difference between life and death. Not only is ICP monitoring important for evaluating brain injury, it is also critical for determining the efficacy of treatment. ICP monitoring saves lives, but can also prevent non-fatal brain damage. Severe brain damage can leave a patient with low quality of life, or can render them completely comatose. ICP monitoring is also important for babies, whose brains are still extremely fragile and in the development stage, and for whom even a small increase in pressure can have devastating effects.
ICP monitoring is especially important for athletes engaged in contact sports, specifically football. With the increase in the number of concussions and severe head injuries, having the proper medical technology is critical. It is often the case that players endure recurring injuries as a result of continuing to play despite head trauma. Being able to monitor ICP is necessary in determining whether or not a player is truly fit to return to the field.
On a larger scale, the incidence of traumatic brain injury has increased globally, as a result of a number of factors, one of which includes car accidents. This has created healthy competition for vendors, who are consistently working to develop more technologically advanced monitoring devices that will provide even better and more effective monitoring. According to analysts at Technavio, the global intracranial pressure monitoring market will grow at a CAGR of 7% by 2020.
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