Know the brain's starting point. Watch it come back.
Before surgery, KBO is designed to check for cognitive impairment. After surgery, it is designed to compare recovery with that same baseline and assess delirium risk.
Cognitive impairment check
With the patient awake, KBO listens to the brain at rest, then plays brief tones through the earphones and records the response. Together these are designed to flag cognitive impairment and alert the anesthesiologist to a higher-risk patient, with a suggested medication plan.
Delirium risk assessment
As the drugs wear off, KBO compares the recovery response with the same patient's pre-op baseline. The platform is designed to turn that comparison into a delirium risk assessment, so the care team can see who may need closer attention.
- Pre-op baseline
- Surgery and anesthesia
- Recovery compared with baseline
- Delirium risk assessment
Why a baseline matters
Every brain starts surgery from a different place. Comparing a patient with their own baseline is designed to show change that a single reading cannot.
Why two kinds of response
Early responses reflect how sound travels to the brain. Later responses depend more on attention and cognitive context, which is why KBO reads both.
The science
Our paper with UC Davis anesthesiologists looks at how the brain's response to sound changes across wakefulness, sleep, sedation and anesthesia. Read the research
Investigational device. Not cleared by FDA and not available for sale. Cognitive impairment and delirium functions are in development.