Electrical Impedance Myography (EIM) is a noninvasive, painless clinical technique for the diagnosis and monitoring of a variety of neuromuscular diseases including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and focal nerve injuries. It involves the application of a low-intensity alternating current to a muscle group and the measurement of the consequent surface voltage patterns. In this talk we provide an overview of the technique, and describe the engineering challenges faced in order to move it from early clinical experiments to a robust, handheld impedance measurement probe.
Joel L. Dawson is an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT. He received the S.B. in EE from MIT in 1996, and the MEng. degree from MIT in EECS in 1997. He went on to pursue further graduate studies at Stanford University, where he received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering for his work on power amplifier linearization techniques. Before joining the faculty at MIT, Dr. Dawson spent one year at a startup company that he co-founded. He continues to be active in the industry as both a technical and legal consultant, having worked with BitWave Semiconductor, Nextwave Wireless, Fish and Richardson, and WilmerHale. Prof. Dawson received the NSF CAREER award in 2008.
Dr. Seward Rutkove is Associate Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School and Chief of the Division of Neuromuscular Diseases in the Department of Neurology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center . His research interests include the study of impedance techniques in the assessment of nerve and muscle diseases and the effects of temperature in diabetic neuropathy. He also maintains a broad interest in the application of engineering approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of these disorders, including Lou Gehrigʼs disease, muscular dystrophy and primary diseases of nerve. He is principal investigator on multiple NIH- and foundation-funded research awards that support a wide-ranging investigative program with both basic and clinical components. Dr. Rutkove is the author of more than 50 peer-reviewed articles.