“Blow Your Mind”

Artist: Jacqueline Lian, Department of Visual Arts, Faculty of Arts & Humanities, Western University.

Scientist: Olivia Tong, Department of Medical Biophysics, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University

“Blow your Mind” is an art that illustrates the beauty of neurotechnology. The artist, Jacqueline, uses technical art and her aesthetic skills to provide a visual depiction that connects art, neuroscience, and technology.

Western’s Functional CT Imaging Group has developed a Vortex-tube Intranasal Cooling Instrument (VINCI). VINCI incorporates controllers to automatically generate cold air from the vortex tube under the feedback control of the brain temperature, and the cold air is directed into the nostrils to reduce brain temperature.

Animal and clinical studies have shown that therapeutic hypothermia (i.e., reducing brain temperature) improves neurological functions after the initial injury. Hypothermia modulates cellular abnormalities from energy failures (primary injury), and interrupts downstream molecular pathways (secondary injury). The time between the primary and secondary injuries is critical to initiate therapeutic hypothermia to reduce brain injuries in ischemic stroke and traumatic brain injuries.

This work illustrates how therapeutic hypothermia by VINCI could prevent secondary injuries after the initial insult in patients at neurocritical care. The blue region in the brain indicates low blood flow resulting from the initial injury. When cold air is directed into the patient’s nose, the injury area is controlled, and neurons of the surrounding area are preserved (orange). We hope this illustration will stimulate intellectual curiosity and promote science engagement.