Cortical Dynamics is an innovative Australian medical device technology company that has developed an industry disruptive brain function monitor that has been described as “paradigm busting”.

Cortical Dynamic’s Brain Anaesthesia Response Monitor (BARM) has been developed with the objective of better detecting the effects that anesthetic agents have on brain activity, thereby aiding anesthetists. It is the only brain function monitoring system that can provide a reliable objective measure of anesthetic state during surgery or under sedation in the ICU.

Brain monitoring is an essential component of anesthesia care. Anesthetists must monitor patient physiological variables and vital equipment during all types of operations as anesthesia and surgery can cause rapid changes in vital functions. Current systems do not monitor all aspects of anesthetic effects on the brain, resulting in too much or too little anesthesia being delivered. Too much anesthesia can lead to post-operative complications, and longer hospital stays. Conversely, too little anesthesia can lead to “wake-up” events during operations leading to serious physical and psychological outcomes.

The BARM’s proprietary technology incorporates specific physiological insights regarding how the electroencephalogram (EEG) is generated and how it is affected by anesthetics and sedative drugs. The BARM system differentiates changes in brain function using two uniquely defined measures referred to as the Composite Cortical State (CCS) measure and the Cortical Input (CI) measure. BARM allows for improved accuracy of anesthetic delivery decisions and more precise detection of anesthetic effects to ensure patients are optimally anesthetized. It enables anesthetists to deliver optimal anesthetic dosage to patients reducing side effects and costs.

There is an estimated 312 million surgical procedures globally per annum that require anesthesia. Additionally, in the US, Europe, and Australia there are 2.05 million ICU patients requiring Continuous Ventilatory Support (CVS) where BARM can play an important role in helping better manage sedated mechanically ventilated patients.

Director: Charles Chang
Director: Ashley Zimpel
Director: David Breeze
CTO: Louis Delacretaz
Technical Team: Merhnaz Shoushtarian Ph.D, Nick Sinclair, Ph.D candidate
Advisory: Dr. Adrian Sultana, Jamie Stanistreet