Faster treatment in acute stroke

The app is connected to the CT scanner (X-ray machine) and analyzes with the help of artificial intelligence whether there is damage to the brain, but also how bad this damage is. In most cases, patients with acute symptoms are brought in by ambulance after the ambulance team has reported to the emergency department that the patient may have had a stroke (cerebral infarction or haemorrhage).

Diagnose stroke

Upon arrival, the team immediately takes the patient to the CT room, where the patient is asked about the complaints that have occurred, followed by a physical examination and various scans. “We start with a ‘normal’ scan to rule out bleeding, among other things. . You usually do not see a cerebral infarction on this CT scan. We can do that with a second scan. Then we will also see which part of that brain tissue can still be saved. Finally, we make a scan of the blood vessels. We can then see whether there is a blockage in one of the larger cerebral vessels and whether it can be treated,” says radiologist Bas Hammer.

The information from the scans goes directly to the radiologist, neurologist and interventional radiologist who have permission to see this information and with which they can treat the patient. They use the StrokeViewer app that they have on their smartphone as standard.

Added value StrokeView app

According to Hammer, the added value of the app is the speed with which the information is available for diagnosis. “Often faster than we can analyze ourselves. The algorithm of the system recognizes the blockages. Different colors show which tissue can still be saved and which cannot. The images are razor-sharp and we can zoom in on the smallest details.”

With this knowledge, treatment can therefore be started more quickly, so that fewer brain cells will die and the patient will eventually recover faster.

Neurologist Karlijn de Laat explains how practical the app is for specialists: “We see the same information in the app and are therefore able to consult well without being together. Handy when it comes to a patient from the LangeLand, where they also use the app. Then we can quickly determine whether the patient should come to Haga Hospital or not.”

The importance of a rapid diagnosis in patients who may be affected by a cerebral infarction and stroke has of course been recognized for a long time. So developed Philips a few years ago, a groundbreaking approach that can be used to diagnose a stroke more quickly because in some cases it is no longer necessary to make a CT or MRI scan.