2020 CNPR Seminar
Date : April 28, 2020
Time : 11:00 am
Venue : 6th conference room
Topic : The role of near-infrared spectroscopy in clinical psychiatry and neurology: a possible neuroimaging biomarker?
Speaker : Po-Han Chou, M.D., M.P.H. (周伯翰)
China Medical University Hsinchu Hospital
Abstract
One of the common problems in clinical psychiatric practice is the lack of specific, objective biomarker-based assessments to guide diagnosis and treatment. Till now, several biomarkers have been proposed, including serum levels of inflammatory factors, electrophysiological signals (e.g. EEG), and neuroimaging markers (e.g. MRI, PET, or SPECT). Using biomarkers could assist clinicians in establishing differential diagnosis, monitoring treatment responses, establishing individualized treatment and further improves the clinical outcomes for psychiatric patients.
Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a functional neuroimaging technique increasingly employed in psychology and psychiatry. The advantages of NIRS over other neuroimaging techniques including non-invasiveness, small measurement apparatus, high time resolution, low cost and natural examination settings, which makes it the preferred method in studies of brain substrates of subjective feeling of sleepiness and fatigue, personality, conversation, and psychiatric disorders.
In 2009, application of NIRS (ETG-4000; Hitachi Medical Co., Tokyo, Japan) in psychiatry was been approved as one of the “Advanced Medical Technologies” as an aid for differential diagnosis of depressive symptoms, and this application was further approved in health insurance bureau in Japan in 2014. The aim of this section is to introduce the current status regarding the clinical application of NIRS and related neuroimaging studies in psychiatry and neurology in Taiwan.
