Portable brainwave reading machine set to tackle inaccurate ‘vegetative state’ diagnoses

Family members and friends of a loved one who is locked in a vegetative state (VS) and deemed by medical professionals to be awake but not aware now have recourse to a new brainwave-reading technology that may tell a story different from the doctor’s diagnosis.  Researchers from the Brain and Mind Institute at The University of Western Ontario last Wednesday unveiled a portable electroencephalography (EEG) machine that can simply and cost-effectively assess the consciousness of VS patients in their own bedroom.