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Many diseased states of the brain can result in the displacement of brain tissues and restrict cerebral blood flow, disrupting function in a life-threatening manner. Clinical examples where displacements are observed include venous thromboses, hematomas, sfrokes, tumors, abscesses, and, particularly, bram edema For the latter, the bram tissue swells, displacmg the cerebral spmal fluid (CSF) layer that surrounds it, eventually pressing itself against the skull Under such conditions, catheters are often inserted into the brain's ventricles or the subarachnoid space to monitor increased pressure. These are mvasive procedures that mcur mcreased risk of mfection and consequently are used reluctantly by chmcians Recent studies m the field ofbiomedical optics have suggested that the presence or absence ofthe CSF layer can lead to dramatic changes m MR signals obtained from diffuse reflectance measurements around the bead. In this study, we consider bow this sensitivity ofNIR signals to CSF might be exploited to noninvasively monitor the onset and resolution ofbrain edema.

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