IIT Mandi finetunes diagnosis of neurological problems

Innovators at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi have invented a method to simultaneously study the variations in nerve functions and brain blood flow associated with brain disorders such as Ischemic stroke. The invented method helps in locating and classifying damaged sites (lesions) in the brain, brought about, or leading to neurological diseases. The IIT Mandi team’s invention is based on the intricate interactions between nerve cells (neurons) and blood vessels (vasculature), called the NeuroVascular Coupling (NVC) that regulates blood flow in the brain. Diseases such as Ischemic stroke adversely affect the NVC. NeuroVascular Uncoupling results in such cases, wherein, the nerve impulses do not trigger the required blood flow. Timely detection of NVC is critical for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of such diseases. The invention by the IIT Mandi team takes the diagnosis of neurological problems one step further and will help in better detection and treatment of these diseases.