# FDA permits marketing of first brain wave test to help assess children and teens for ADHD **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 16, 2013, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fda-permits-marketing-of-first-brain-wave-test-to-help-assess-children-and-teens-for-adhd/663622 "2013-07-16T01:09:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fda-permits-marketing-of-first-brain-wave-test-to-help-assess-children-and-teens-for-adhd/663622/1 "2013-07-16T01:09:14Z")
> [@](#): > > The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today allowed marketing of the first medical device based on brain function to help assess attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and adolescents 6 to 17 years old. When used as part of a complete medical and psychological examination, the device can help confirm an ADHD diagnosis or a clinician’s decision that further diagnostic testing should focus on ADHD or other medical or behavioral conditions that produce symptoms similar to ADHD. > > The device, the Neuropsychiatric EEG-Based Assessment Aid (NEBA) System, is based on electroencephalogram (EEG) technology, which records different kinds of electrical impulses (waves) given off by neurons (nerve cells) in the brain and the number of times (frequency) the impulses are given off each second. > > The NEBA System is a 15- to 20-minute non-invasive test that calculates the ratio of two standard brain wave frequencies, known as theta and beta waves. The theta/beta ratio has been shown to be higher in children and adolescents with ADHD than in children without it. [http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm360811.htm](http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm360811.htm) Well, that’s pretty damn cool. Both as a tool to help in more accurate diagnoses, and to help reduce overdiagnosis. As well as to hopefully encourage people to STFU about overdiagnosis. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fda-permits-marketing-of-first-brain-wave-test-to-help-assess-children-and-teens-for-adhd/663622/2 "2013-07-16T05:09:11Z")
Interesting. I knew that this technology was on the horizon, but I didn’t realize it was this far along. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fda-permits-marketing-of-first-brain-wave-test-to-help-assess-children-and-teens-for-adhd/663622/3 "2013-07-16T06:39:13Z")
😕 Is it a machine or a computer program? The description sounds like what you need to do is run some calculations on a regular EKG, but that’s not something I’d call a “device”. They also refer to the NEBA as a “test”, something which wouldn’t be either a program or a machine. So what the heck is actually being marketed? A limited-use EKG machine with a specific program? Because if that’s the case, my crystal ball foretells that some markets will buy the new machine and others will reverse-engineer the protocol and use it on the EKG machines they already have. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fda-permits-marketing-of-first-brain-wave-test-to-help-assess-children-and-teens-for-adhd/663622/4 "2013-07-16T12:34:28Z")
It’s a device that performs a test using eeg waves and math and statistics. Currently, the device, the software and the test itself are all being called NEBA, and the company is known as NEBA Health LLC. [http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/health/2013-07-15/augusta-company-has-first-fda-approved-brain-wave-test-adhd?v=1373920601](http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/health/2013-07-15/augusta-company-has-first-fda-approved-brain-wave-test-adhd?v=1373920601) While I’m not having luck finding that particular patent information, I did find this one on patentdocs, for “S&M FOR ANALYZING AND ASSESSING DEPRESSION AND OTHER MOOD DISORDERS USING ELECTOENCEPHALOGRAHIC (EEG) MEASUREMENTS” which appears to be something similar they’re working on for Depression and other mood disorders, or maybe the same device. I’m not conversant enough in patent-speak to be able to decipher it. [S&M FOR ANALYZING AND ASSESSING DEPRESSION AND OTHER MOOD DISORDERS USING ELECTOENCEPHALOGRAHIC (EEG) MEASUREMENTS - Patent application](http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20130023783#ixzz2ZD91Mpym) So I guess it all hinges on whether you’re allowed to reverse engineer a patented system of this sort. Someone knows the answer to that, but it’s not me. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fda-permits-marketing-of-first-brain-wave-test-to-help-assess-children-and-teens-for-adhd/663622/5 "2013-07-16T18:50:34Z")
I’ve been seeing claims in the science press for years that everything from autism to drug addiction to schizophrenia to lies can be easily revealed by MRI, and I wish diagnostic tests if real and accurate would just be brought to market already! Seriously it would revolutionize mental health services, get it out there! ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fda-permits-marketing-of-first-brain-wave-test-to-help-assess-children-and-teens-for-adhd/663622/6 "2013-07-18T13:35:14Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > 😕 Is it a machine or a computer program? The description sounds like what you need to do is run some calculations on a regular EKG, but that’s not something I’d call a “device”. They also refer to the NEBA as a “test”, something which wouldn’t be either a program or a machine. > > So what the heck is actually being marketed? A limited-use EKG machine with a specific program? Because if that’s the case, my crystal ball foretells that some markets will buy the new machine and others will reverse-engineer the protocol and use it on the EKG machines they already have. To clarify, an EEG is an ElectroEncephaloGraph, a written record of the brain’s electrical activity. An EKG is an ElectroK(c)ardioGraph, a written record of the heart’s electrical activity. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fda-permits-marketing-of-first-brain-wave-test-to-help-assess-children-and-teens-for-adhd/663622/7 "2013-07-18T13:52:46Z")
Any time a concrete way to test for a disease is devised, that’s awesome.