Hi Zoe,
I am in a study with Northwestern University about brain health and sleep.
One of the steps is having a trans cranial doppler probe on my head while they
measure brain blood flow etc. It seems non-invasive but I wanted to check with you.
Is it in any way a danger to my brain? Please tell me what this device can and can’t accomplish. Another part is wearing a watch type device
while sleeping at night for a week which seems harmless, but also wanted to
check on that too. There is a follow up exam in 6 months or so. Thanks!
Better Together
Trnascranial doppler probe
Updated on November 21, 2023 in
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Unfortunately, I don’t know anything about the particular devices they are using so I would rely on Northwestern University to inform you as I imagine they have detailed information they can share with you.
In preliminary research I see on ultrasound’s effects on the brain (ultrasound is the type of imaging the transcranial doppler probe uses), it is generally considered very safe and highly useful for diagnosis of many potentially dangerous conditions including stroke. The only significant concerns for the brain that I can find in research include potential tissue damage but this is seen only with prolonged exposure at MUCH higher frequencies than are used in clinical practice, which you can read about here. There does seem to be hope for using ultrasound for chronic conditions including depression and epilepsy. This article gives a nice overview of some of the potential uses in the peer-reviewed journal, Science.
Hope this study turns out to be beneficial for you and others. Best!
Thanks for your detailed input. I may have to rethink this since it is concerning it could
potentially cause tissue damage at high frequencies, the reverse of what I am trying to accomplish! I will contact the MD’s in the study and see what frequency they are using and who administers the test.
I can drop out of the study 🙁 any time, so that is not an issue.
I am so glad I asked you..thanks again for your quick reply!
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While I encourage you to get more information, please note that research on tissue damage was only done in the lab, so again, no clinical use in patients would be at that high of a frequency. I don’t want to cause alarm when there may be no need.
Best!
I went with my gut reaction and decided not to continue in the study. As for sleep I am using an organic essential oil behind the ear before sleeping with clove and lime that has me sleeping all night w/o waking up, and even dreaming! There seems to be a vagus nerve connection in my situation from my unscientific conclusions.
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