The Dense-Array EEG is a machine that offers a detailed picture of the brain to find injuries and disorders such as tumors and dementia. Oonly 11 clinical DEEG machines are throughout the world, and now Hawaii has one of them.

Dr. Michael Russo, a neurologist, says the machine can pick up subtleties that other machinery may not find, opening up a new era in medicine in Hawaii.

Dr. Russo says the machine detects injuries that a regular EEG can't, "It can pick up slowing, it can pick up areas of depression, it can pick up areas of mild or subtle injury that machines that do not have the sensitivity may not be able to capture."

The 128 listening posts the machine uses capture brain signals 1,000 times per second. Doctors say the information can be very beneficial for people with epileptic seizures. They say it can detect and localize cells in the brain responsible for seizures four times more accurately than existing techniques currently available in the state.

Russo says, "The signals come in, they are reproduced on the screen here as squiggles, squiggles are frequencies, amplitudes. They are the brains thought pattern."

Cathrine Dam with Electrical Geodesics Inc. says the machine is patient friendly. "No scraping or braiding, or any of these invasive procedures that you would need to do with other systems."

The DEEG map is a starting point. The maps information can lead to neurotherapy to remodel dysfunctional brain regions, or surgery may be required.

Either way, Russo says this new technology can be a lifesaver.

The machine's data not only detects brain defects, but can also be used to improve brain function through guided neuro exercises.