Bridging Psychiatry and Imaging Science
For years, Dr. Barbara Bartlik, an integrative psychiatrist known for her work at the intersection of mental health, endocrinology, and environmental medicine, and Dr. Robert L. Bard, a diagnostic imaging specialist and pioneer in noninvasive brain and body scanning, have shared a common goal: connecting emotional health with biological truth. Their collaboration merges psychiatry with precision imaging—what they call “evidence-based neuro-scanning.” Together, they study how environmental toxins, heavy metals, and implanted materials can alter brain chemistry, impair mood regulation, and trigger psychiatric symptoms that conventional medicine often misattributes to purely psychological causes.
Dr. Bard’s imaging work has validated that insight. “With Doppler and elastography, we can actually see how neurotoxins create microvascular inflammation,” he notes. “The brain, liver, and endocrine organs all communicate through shared biochemical pathways. When metals interfere with those systems, mood and behavior inevitably change.”
The Hidden Toll of Neurotoxins
“Ultrasound and thermography are now capable of showing tissue-level responses to chemical or metallic stress,” explains Dr. Bard. “We’ve observed thermal asymmetries and perfusion deficits in patients with long-term implant exposure. These are not abstract findings—they’re visual, quantifiable, and repeatable.”
From Case Stories to Clinical Science
Terri Beckley’s story, among many others, is adding weight to this emerging evidence. After decades of depression and multiple metal implant surgeries, she experienced profound emotional relief once her hardware was removed. “Her experience is not an anomaly,” says Dr. Bartlik. “We are hearing similar accounts from patients across the country—people whose psychiatric distress lifts after detoxification or explantation. It’s time we stop calling these coincidences.”
Their joint research now extends to cross-disciplinary collaborations with neurologists, endocrinologists, and toxicologists. They are mapping how chronic exposure affects neurovascular flow and correlating those findings with psychiatric symptom profiles. Early results suggest that even trace-level accumulations may influence serotonin and dopamine pathways through oxidative stress.
A Call for Awareness and Reform
Dr. Bard envisions a diagnostic future where psychiatry and imaging merge seamlessly. “We must move from speculation to visualization. Once we can show inflammation or metal deposition on a scan, no one can call it imaginary.” Their partnership underscores a vital truth: the mind and body cannot be separated in diagnosis or healing. As the medical community begins to recognize the biological roots of emotional suffering, stories like Terri Beckley’s are no longer outliers—they are signals of a paradigm shift.
“Neurotoxicity may be invisible to the naked eye,” says Dr. Bartlik, “but its effects are written all over the human experience. The science is catching up to what patients have known all along—something real is happening inside.”
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F E A T U R E S T O R Y
By the age of six, Terri’s mouth was filled with mercury amalgam fillings, metal caps, and spacers. That same year, she developed rheumatic fever and had her tonsils removed. What followed were learning difficulties and waves of melancholy that shadowed her entire life. “I had profound sadness as a child,” she recalled — a sadness that persisted into adulthood despite therapy, medications, and the support of psychiatrists and counselors.
When her surgeon, Dr. Scott Schroeder, later removed the metal implants, Terri’s transformation was almost instantaneous. “After the metal got out,” she said, “my spirit soared. It chokes me up every time.” The sadness lifted, her pain subsided, and the suicidal thoughts vanished. “No more crying, no more sadness, no more horrible pain.”
A year later, another major foot surgery brought new complications. Once again, she endured another round of intense depression — and once again, when the hardware was removed, her mood and vitality returned. “It was just amazing what happened to me,” she said. “By the grace of God, I connected with Dr. Schroeder. I know that this was no accident.”
Terri had never suspected that the metals in her body — from childhood dental work to orthopedic implants — might be contributing to her lifelong depression. “As a nurse, I was educated and informed, but I had no idea that there was even a possibility of a metal allergy contributing to my symptoms,” she admitted. It was only after living through the profound emotional changes following the removal of her surgical implants and dental amalgams that she began to understand the connection.
Today, Terri speaks openly about her journey. Decades of therapy, psychiatric care, and antidepressant medications had brought limited relief — yet the removal of toxic orthopedic hardware and dental metals gave her back her peace of mind. “I am happy. I am not crying. I am not suicidal. It’s like I got my life back,” she said with emotion. “And I’ve got a lot of living to do. I’m sixty-five.” She will still experience occasional episodes of situational depression which she has learned to manage with the help of her medical team.
Terri’s story is not only one of physical healing but also of emotional and spiritual renewal. Having survived years of childhood trauma and the invisible torment of neurotoxic exposure, she has embraced a new mission — to help others who may be suffering unknowingly from similar causes. “I’ve always had a longing to help, to create some peace in the world,” she reflected. “It’s my natural inclination.”
Now retired, Terri continues to care for others in her community, drawn instinctively to people in need. “Once a nurse, always a nurse,” she said. She has become an advocate for awareness around metal sensitivity, toxic exposures, and emotional health — combining her personal experience and professional insight to bring hope to others.
“I love the concept of helping and healing,” Terri said. “Through my story, if even one person realizes what might be happening to them, then it’s worth it.”
H E A L T H T E C H F E A T U R E S T O R Y
Tuesday, September 30, 2025 Detoxification and Gulf War Illness: Revisiting a Landmark Pilot Study By Daniel Root – Detox Research Advisor, DetoxScan.org  The story of Gulf War Illness (GWI) is one of perseverance, advocacy, and scientific exploration. For decades, veterans of the 1990–1991 Gulf War have reported persistent, multi-system symptoms for which conventional medicine has provided little relief. Among those committed to finding solutions was my father, who spent over a decade championing detoxification research for this underserved population. In 2015, that vision materialized when Dr. George Yu, a key member of our Heroes Health Fund consortium, secured support to launch a formal clinical study. The project became a milestone in exploring detoxification as a pathway to healing for veterans who have carried the burden of toxic exposures. Study Overview Published as “A Detoxification Intervention for Gulf War Illness: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial,” the study sought to test the feasibility, safety, and potential benefits of the Hubbard detoxification regimen for veterans meeting the Kansas criteria for GWI. Conducted at a U.S. community rehabilitation facility, this pragmatic pilot enrolled 32 Gulf War veterans, each experiencing multiple chronic symptoms across domains such as fatigue, pain, mood, skin, gastrointestinal, and respiratory health. |
HEALTH SCIENCE NEWS
TRANSCRANIAL NEURO-IMAGING FOR STRESS RELATED DISORDERS
By HealthTech Reporter
According to Dr. Robert Bard of BardDiagnostics (NYC), Emotional traumas and stress influencers are scientifically aligned with anxiety, depression, behavioral disorders, drug/alcohol abuse and a wide list of physiological health issues. These symptoms are typically diagnosed by mental health professionals through observational science and behavioral analysis. But within the past 15 years, global advancements in transcranial imaging pioneered the ability to detect trauma-related issues in the brain through neurological imaging. Now, neurological stress can be identified clinically by monitoring chronic imbalance and changes in the neurochemical structure (or circuitry). The shift in memory performance - specifically the hippocampus and the medial prefrontal cortex is one indicator of this imbalance whereby a stressful event can show images with signs of neuronal dysfunction.
Neuro-imaging measures brain thought activity which has known chemical tissue changes by observing the alterations in capillary blood vessels in the retina located in close proximity to the main emotional center of the anterior brain. Functional MRI (fMRI) is currently used to show brain chemical changes with cognitive commands such as “death vs freedom.” Most recognizable patterns with suicide occur in the anterior cingulate cortex of the brain which lies directly behind the globe and is vascularized by orbital branches of the anterior cerebral artery. Functional near infrared imaging (fNIR) devices show changes in brain oxygenation linked to suicide.
Another imaging innovation is the TRANSCRANIAL DOPPLER (TCD) - a type of sonogram that is a non‐invasive, non‐ionizing, inexpensive, portable and safe technique that uses a pulsed Doppler transducer for assessment of the blood flow in the anterior cerebral arterial circulation. This technology has been used to evaluate intracranial steno‐occlusive disease, subarachnoid hemorrhage, and extracranial diseases (including carotid artery disease and subclavian steal syndrome), detection of microembolic signals and acute strokes. [5] The Transcranial Doppler has been used to examine the mean speed of blood circulation of patients to validate and monitor treatment efficacy by tracking cranial blood vessels and vertebrobasilar flow vasospasm. (See complete report from Military Medicine)
Another device used by imaging specialists to detect mental distress is through an EYE SONOGRAM or Real Time Sonofluoroscopy of the orbital soft tissues of the eyes. This process is performed in multiple scan planes with varying transducer configurations and frequencies. Power and color Doppler use angle 0 degrees and PRF at 0.9 at the optic nerve head. 3D imaging of optic nerve and carotid, central retinal arteries and superficial posterior ciliary arteries performed in erect position before & after verbal communication and orbital muscle tissue contractions may be observed as a precursor to visual changes in facial expression. Retinal arterial directional flow is also measured with peak systolic and diastolic values. Bulging of the optic nerve head is checked as increased intracranial pressure may be demonstrable in this condition. Other innovations such as the TRANSORBITAL DOPPLER, 3D/4D VESSEL DENSITY HISTOGRAM and the RETINAL OCT (optical coherence tomography) are also being explored in the pursuit of studying brain performance through the eyes. An expanded review on these solutions will be available in part 2 of this report.
See full report reprised from 1/2023
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