"Microwave Helmet" Determines Stroke Type

Scientists have developed a new "microwave helmet" that can determine whether a patient has had a stroke. The device can also differentiate between bleeding and clot-forming strokes, which will help doctors diagnose the condition faster and administer the right treatment.

Latest clinical studies on 45 stroke patients have confirmed that the new device - "Strokefinder" - can lead to faster and accurate diagnosis of a stroke. The device was made by scientists at the Chalmers University of Technology, Sahlgrenska Academy and Sahlgrenska University Hospital.

Stroke is an emergency because the longer the blood flow is cut the worse are a patient's chances of recovering from the condition. Patients suffering a stroke have a time window of three hours after the event to get treated. But, a person needs to be at the hospital within 60 minutes of the stroke to receive proper diagnosis and treatment.

The device uses "microwave" that bounce off a patient's head. The signals are used by a system that determines the type of the stroke - bleeding or clot-forming. Medical terms for the condition are ischemic stroke (where there is a clot in the artery carrying blood to the brain) and hemorrhagic stroke (where artery in brain ruptures or leaks blood).

"The results of this study show that we will be able to increase the number of stroke patients who receive optimal treatment when the instrument makes a diagnosis already in the ambulance," said Mikael Persson, professor of biomedical engineering at Chalmers University of Technology. "The possibility to rule out bleeding already in the ambulance is a major achievement that will be of great benefit in acute stroke care. Equally exciting is the potential application in trauma care."

The initial studies on the device were performed in hospitals last year. Researchers at the Chalmers and Sahlgrenska Academy are planning on testing the helmet on patients in ambulances starting this fall.

Stroke is the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S. Each year, some 750,000 strokes are diagnosed in the country.

"Our goal with Strokefinder is to diagnose and initiate treatment of stroke patients already in the ambulance," said Mikael Elam, professor of clinical neurophysiology at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital, according to a news release. "Since time is a critical factor for stroke treatment, the use of the instrument leads to patients suffering less extensive injury. This in turn can shorten the length of stay at hospitals and reduce the need for rehabilitation, thus providing a number of other positive consequences for both the patient and the health care system."

The article - "Microwave-based stroke diagnosis making global pre-hospital thrombolytic treatment possible" - will be published in the IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering journal.