PA The wearable device allows the brain activity to be monitored while the person is moving

This wearable device differs from a normal PET (positron emission tomography) scanner, as it allows the brain activity to be monitored while the person is moving. In the future, the brain scanner could help stroke victims get the rapid treatment needed to save their life or prevent disability. Other uses for the device include scanning the heads of footballers and other athletes for signs of collision injury, or bringing state of the art brain imaging to soldiers in the midst of battle.

This is like going from a big computer to a smart phone Dr Julie Brefczynski-Lewis

So far, an early prototype has been tested on volunteers. The device weighs six pounds, but it does not cover the whole brain. A wearable brain scanner in full-scale might weigh as much as 20 pounds, and would require a system to support the head. Dr Julie Brefczynski-Lewis, from West Virginia University in the US, who led the development team, said: "PET detectors in hospitals are very large and have very large photomultiplier tubes.

"This is like going from a big computer to a smart phone." A PET scan uses glucose labelled with a weakly radioactive tracer to map brain activity. The machine is able to plot where the sugar is most actively being absorbed into the brain.

GETTY The wearable devices differs from a normal PET scenner

In hospitals, PET scanners fill an entire room and require the patient to lie completely still within a doughnut-shaped detector. Using the helmet technique, called Ampet (Ambulatory Positron Emission Tomography) allows deep regions of the brain to be scanned during movement. In the preliminary tests, 11 volunteers had their brains scanned with the helmet as they moved their heads while sitting. Two were successfully monitored while walking.

GETTY PET scanners fill an entire room in hospitals

The machine opens up the possibility of exploring avenues that have remained off limits even to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), another widely used type of scan. These include brain activity associated with balance behaviours and social interactions which involve gestures and body movements. One of its greatest benefits might be in the treatment of stroke, says Dr Brefczynski-Lewis who will be at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, talking about the invention.

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"Time is brain for stroke," she said. "The more you wait, the more the penumbra - the area of the brain affected by the stroke - gasps and dies. A lot of it remains in limbo. If you can see there's a bit of activity you might say let's do an intervention. "You could see if that area is getting the glucose back to it. If the stroke has occurred within two to four hours, it's often worth it.

GETTY The wearable machine offers the possibility of exploring other avenues