Intracranial Pressure: A Comparison of the Noninvasive HeadSense Monitor versus Lumbar Pressure Measurement.

Abstract

To compare a new method of noninvasive intracranial pressure (nICP) measurement with conventional lumbar puncture (LP) opening pressure. In a prospective multicenter study, patients undergoing LP for diagnostic purposes underwent intracranial pressure measurements with HeadSense, a noninvasive transcranial acoustic device, and indirectly with LP. Noninvasive measurements were conducted with the head in a 30° tilt and in supine position before and after LP. The primary endpoint was the correlation between nICP measurement in supine position before LP and the LP opening pressure. There was no correlation between supine nICPs before LP and the LP opening pressures (r = -0.211, P = 0.358). The 30° head-tilt nICPs correlated with the supine nICPs before LP (r = 0.830, P < 0.01). There was no correlation between supine nICPs before and after LP (r = 0.056, P = 0.831) or between 30° head-tilt nICPs and LP opening pressures (r = -0.038, P = 0.861). There was no correlation between nICPs and LP opening pressures. Further development is warranted before transcranial acoustic HeadSense can become a clinical tool for investigating patients with neurologic conditions.