Dr Tony Birch is a clinical scientist specialising in measurement of fluid flow in the brain. His particular expertise is the application of transcranial Doppler ultrasound to measure the velocity of blood flowing in the major arteries at the base of the brain. As well as performing these measurements as a clinical service, he provides a transcranial Doppler training course for health professionals from across the UK.
Tony is very active in research where he has two primary goals; in collaboration with others he is developing:
- New methods to measure how well the brain can regulate its own blood supply (cerebral autoregulation).
- New methods to measure the fluid pressure on the brain (cerebrospinal fluid pressure).
Both of these measurements are desperately needed to improve the care of patients with conditions including stroke, dementia, head trauma, meningitis, hydrocephalus, sickle cell disease and many more, less well known, and often mis-diagnosed conditions.
