BioMARK
BioMARK is a neurophysiologic test used to quickly and objectively assess the processing of sound by the nervous system.
Professor Nina Kraus and coworkers at the School of Communications have developed an objective and non-invasive technique for the diagnosis of physiological disorders in auditory processing. The method, which is now widely known as BioMARK (Biological Marker of Auditory Processing, formerly known as BioMAP), was developed as a result of the Listening, Learning and the Brain Project, a research study funded by the National Institutes of Health to increase the understanding of how brain responses to speech relate to reading and learning.
BioMARK can distinguish physiological disorders from perceptual deficits in learning-disabled children, but is expected to have broader applications as a diagnostic tool in hearing evaluation clinics. Research has shown that roughly one-third of learning-disabled children between the ages of 8 to 12 years have disorders that can be detected using BioMARK, and following diagnosis they can obtain auditory training that can improve academic learning performance.
In 2005, Northwestern licensed the BioMARK technology to Bio-logic Systems Corporation (now part of Natus Medical Inc.) of Mundelein, IL. The company's expertise in computer-based systems for the detection, diagnosis, and monitoring of hearing disorders combined with the Kraus lab know-how led to the BioMARK product for clinical diagnostic use. Market launch occurred in late 2006. As more practitioners offer the diagnostic services enabled by the BioMARK product, it is expected that it will become one of the most important tools for specialists to diagnose dyslexia and other language-based learning disabilities in children, and to monitor their treatment.
Link to the Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory at Northwestern http://www.brainvolts.northwestern.edu.
More on BioMARK at the following link http://www.natus.com/index.cfm?page=products_1&crid=28
Nina Kraus was recently featured on a PBS program called "Reading Rockets". See the video here.
