Mātai CEO Dr Samantha Holdsworth and Dr Sarah-Jane Guild (University of Auckland) have been awarded a Marsden Grant to determine if amplified MRI (a new medical imaging method being developed by Dr Holdsworth and her team of international collaborators) can be used as a non-invasive measure of intracranial pressure.

Head injuries, brain tumours and meningitis are some of the many conditions that can lead to an increase in pressure around the brain, or intracranial pressure. If this pressure is not relieved, it can lead to serious consequences for the patient including brain injury, coma, and even death. Currently the only way to diagnose an increase in intracranial pressure is to measure it through a hole drilled into the patient’s skull.