A research team at Stony Brook University led by Sima Mofakham, PhD, announced on April 10 that it has received a grant from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Mental Health to develop a new system called “SeeMe.” The project aims to use electrophysiological signals, computer vision, and artificial intelligence technology to detect early signs of consciousness and promote recovery in patients with brain injuries.
Each year, thousands of patients with brain injuries are labeled as “unresponsive” in hospitals. Neuroscientists believe that up to one-quarter of these individuals may actually be conscious but unable to show it.
“It’s this disconnect, called cognitive motor dissociation, that we are hoping to solve with SeeMe,” said lead principal investigator Mofakham, who is an associate professor and vice chair of research for the Department of Neurosurgery in the Renaissance School of Medicine and affiliated associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Stony Brook University.
“Cognitive motor dissociation is one of the most urgent diagnostic blind spots in neurology and critical care,” said co-principal investigator Chuck Mikell, MD, clinical associate professor and vice chair for the Department of Neurosurgery. Current assessments often rely on bedside examinations which can miss subtle or inconsistent signs that a patient is following commands. SeeMe is designed as an automated tool intended to provide objective and sensitive detection of such signals. The information could then help clinicians create treatment strategies aimed at promoting recovery.
According to Mofakham, researchers will first further develop SeeMe as a monitoring tool using computer vision, hand sensors, and recordings of brain activity to identify subtle responses when spoken commands are given. In its second phase, they plan to test whether SeeMe can detect voluntary behavior as it emerges in real time—and use this data for timing vagus nerve stimulation—to help strengthen movement and aid recovery.
The system will be tested on 80 traumatic brain injury patients during validation studies. Following this stage, researchers intend to design a closed-loop simulation system using SeeMe technology that may facilitate recovery of consciousness. The NIMH grant (R61MH138612) will provide more than $2.5 million over five years through April 2031; funding for later phases depends on successful completion of initial milestones.
The project also includes Petar M. Djurić, PhD—Distinguished Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering—as a third co-principal investigator. Previous research describing SeeMe as breakthrough technology was published in Nature Communications Medicine in 2025.
