The Halifax Consciousness Scanner is a prototype medical device that uses auditory tones and speech stimuli to evaluate the presence or absence of specific brain functions. It is a technology-based alternative to the Glasgow Coma Scale of measurement, a common neurological assessment tool introduced in 1974.
The Halifax Consciousness Scanner is used to diagnose patients suffering from brain injuries and related conditions. The device measures various levels of conscious awareness; a task which can be difficult using only the behavioural response feedback (eye, verbal and motor activity) inherent to the Glasgow Coma Scale. Incorporating advancements in modern medical imaging technologies, the Halifax Consciousness Scanner provides a method for measuring and capturing neurological response data.
An incomplete understanding of a brain injured patient’s brain response can contribute to the belief and diagnosis that the patient is in a vegetative state.
Dr. Ryan C.N. D’Arcy conceived the idea for the Halifax Consciousness Scanner in 2001 while exploring new ways to improve the Glasgow Coma Scale. In 2009, the prototype developed by Dr. Ryan D’Arcy and Dr. Donald Weaver was funded by the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and the Province of Nova Scotia (Innovacorp).
The Halifax Consciousness Scanner is currently under exclusive license to Mindful Scientific, Inc., a company founded by Ryan C.N. D'Arcy, Dr. Don Weaver and Chris Barden. Mindful Scientific credits Ryan C.N. D’Arcy, Ph.d. as the chief architect and inventor of the medical device.