DeltaScan — DeltaScan single-channel EEG

What this tool is and how to interpret its evidence

DeltaScan is a medical-device approach that records a brief single-channel electroencephalogram and applies an automated algorithm to support recognition of acute encephalopathy and delirium. It does not ask a fixed set of clinical questions and should not be compared with paper instruments by item count. Operation, contraindications, signal-quality checks and interpretation depend on the current manufacturer protocol and local device governance.

Ditzel and colleagues reported a prospective cross-sectional multicentre validation in ICU and non-ICU adults. The study supports a relationship between the automated EEG output and expert assessment, but performance differed across clinical subgroups and levels of arousal. EEG slowing is not unique to delirium: sedation, structural brain disease, metabolic encephalopathy, seizures and other conditions can affect the signal. A device result therefore supplements rather than replaces history, examination and clinical diagnosis.

DeltaScan is a genuine delirium-focused technology that should appear in physiological-device context if the website claims broad comprehensiveness. Its exclusion is defensible only when the scope statement explicitly limits the core to clinical instruments. The page should link to the multicentre paper and an authoritative current manufacturer route, avoid reproducing proprietary algorithms, and note the need for equipment, operator preparation, signal quality and device-specific training. It should not enter the independent bedside-questionnaire count or be described as a universal objective diagnosis.