This barely helps at all in reducing the time to treatment. It still requires a time consuming and expensive scan. But has this been tested for those cases where prior strokes have occurred? When are we going to fund researchers to test out these 17 possibilities to find out which one is the best? Or maybe the Qualcomm Xprize for the tricorder? Does no one have a clue that we need to be following a strategy rather than this stupid scattershot approach? If our stroke associations actually wanted to be useful they would use some of the brainpower of their employees and create a strategy to solve all the problems in stroke. But no, it is more important to put out press releases.
http://www.news-medical.net/news/20150514/Novel-computer-aided-system-developed-for-acute-stroke-detection.aspx
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has developed a novel
computer-aided detection system for acute stroke using computer
intelligence technology. Reading 80-100 computer images, the system is
able to detect if the patient was struck by ischemic stroke or
haemorrhagic stroke. The detection accuracy is 90%, which is as high as
that conducted by specialists, but at a much reduced time from 10-15
minutes to 3 minutes. The new system serves as a second opinion for
frontline medical doctors, enabling timely and appropriate treatment for
stroke patients.
Providing treatment to acute stroke patients within the golden hours
of stroke treatment, i.e., 3 hours of stroke onset, is vital to saving
lives. However, stroke specialists do not work around the clock,
increasing the risk of misdiagnosis and delayed diagnosis of acute
stroke. This novel system which analyses brain scans could help save
lives by assisting non-specialists in diagnosis by providing them a
second opinion. Timely diagnosis and treatment within 3 hours of stroke
onset also minimise damage.
Developed
by experts from the Department of Health Technology and Informatics at
PolyU, the computer-aided detection for stroke (CAD stroke) technology
combines sophisticated calculations, artificial intelligence and
pathology to help medical professionals achieve speedy and accurate
diagnosis.
The first part of the system is an algorithm for automatic extraction
of areas of suspected region of interest. A computed tomography (CT)
scan uses X-rays to take pictures of the brain in slices. When blood
flow to the brain is blocked, an area of the brain turns softer or
decreases in density due to insufficient blood flow, pointing to an
ischemic stroke.
The second part is an artificial neural network to classify region of
interest for stroke. The CAD stroke computer "learns" the defining
features of stroke, and performs automated reasoning. CT scans are fed
into the CAD stroke computer, which will make sophisticated calculations
and comparisons to locate areas suspected of insufficient blood flow.
It detects where the images look "abnormal", and will be highlighted for
doctors' review. Early changes including loss of insular ribbon, loss
of sulcus and dense MCA signs will appear as "abnormalities", helping
doctors determine if blood clots are present. As our system is able to
detect subtle change in density, our system is also able to detect
haemorrhagic stroke which is presented as increase in tissue density.
Equipped with the built-in artificial intelligence feature, the CAD
stroke technology can learn by experience. With every scan passing
through, along with feedback from stroke specialists, the application
will improve its accuracy over time.
The life-saving application can also detect subtle and minute changes
in the brain that would escape the eye of even an experienced
specialist, slashing the chances of missed diagnosis. False-positive and
false-negative cases, and other less serious conditions that mimic a
stroke can also be ruled out, allowing a fully-informed decision to be
made.
Showing posts with label scattershot. Show all posts
Showing posts with label scattershot. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
UTHealth professor awarded $1 million grant from Stryker Neurovascular for stroke research
This researcher is going down the wrong route. You don't need to select the right patients, you need to figure out why all the patients don't recover better. There is a simple answer. The neuronal cascade of death has not been addressed at all. Fix that and your therapy will work much better. This is what happens when you don't have a stroke strategy that is being followed. The scattershot approach rarely works. The mentors for this guy do not know enough to be mentors. This is why stroke survivors need to be in charge.
http://www.news-medical.net/news/20150506/UTHealth-professor-awarded-241-million-grant-from-Stryker-Neurovascular-for-stroke-research.aspx
http://www.news-medical.net/news/20150506/UTHealth-professor-awarded-241-million-grant-from-Stryker-Neurovascular-for-stroke-research.aspx
A $1 million grant for stroke research has been awarded from
Stryker Neurovascular to Amrou Sarraj, M.D., assistant professor of
neurology at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
(UTHealth).
Sarraj completed his residency and fellowship at UTHealth, where he began investigating which patients would do best with intra-arterial therapy - the mechanical removal of a blood clot that has stopped blood flow in an artery in the brain, during which a catheter is deployed through an artery in the groin up to the site of the clot.
While still a fellow, Sarraj devised a new scoring method to help physicians determine if a patient is a candidate for intra-arterial therapy. Called the Houston Intra-Arterial Therapy 2 "HIAT2" score, the new method earned him the Mordecai Y.T. Globus New Investigator Award in Stroke from the American Stroke Association (ASA) in 2012.
The dilemma for neurologists is that while intra-arterial therapy re-opens a clogged artery in 80 percent of patients, ONLY 30 PERCENT have an improved outcome.
"Even if you open the vessel, there can be too much damage that has already occurred,"(Wrong. You haven't stopped the damage that continues to occur in the death cascade) said Sarraj, who is an attending physician at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center and Mischer Neuroscience Institute at Memorial Hermann. "We need to be able to select the right patients."(Wrong, wrong, wrong. Determine why your patients don't all recover, your assumption is wrong.)
At the recent ASA International Stroke Conference, Sarraj presented new study findings that revealed blood circulation flow, the extent of damage and patient age may be more important than arrival time when physicians are predicting which patients would benefit the most from intra-arterial therapy.
The new grant will fund a multi-institutional study that will evaluate different selection methods currently being used to see which one has the greatest probability of selecting the patients most likely to benefit from intra-arterial therapy. There are potential health care cost savings, he said, by avoiding an unnecessary procedure. The new study is called Optimizing Patient's Selection for Endovascular Treatment in Acute Ischemic Stroke (SELECT).
"This project has become all the more important as new published studies are beginning to show benefit of endovascular therapy for acute stroke," said Sean I. Savitz, M.D., professor of neurology and director of the UTHealth Stroke Program and Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center Stroke Center. "This grant represents the culmination of several years of research that Amrou has been doing. We are very proud of him."
"Now that endovascular therapy is a proven treatment, future trials should assess strategies to enhance clinical outcomes and optimization of patient selection and SELECT will take the lead," Sarraj said. "Informing stroke patients' families on their chances of having good outcomes after intra-arterial therapy is crucial; we hope the study will bring an answer to that".
Sarraj credits mentors including Savitz; Andrew Barreto, M.D., associate professor of neurology; Jon E. Tyson, M.D., M.P.H., professor of pediatrics and director of the Center for Clinical Research and Evidence-Based Medicine; Kathleen A. Kennedy, M.D., M.P.H., the Richard W. Mithoff Professor of Pediatrics and director of the MS Clinical Research Degree Program; and Charles Green, Ph.D., associate professor at the Center for Clinical Research and Evidence-Based Medicine. Sarraj is a graduate of the masters' degree research program.
"I would also like to thank Mark Paul and Mark O'Brien for their vision," Sarraj said. Paul is the president of the Neurovascular Division of Stryker Neurovascular while O'Brien is vice-president of Customer Excellence.
Sarraj completed his residency and fellowship at UTHealth, where he began investigating which patients would do best with intra-arterial therapy - the mechanical removal of a blood clot that has stopped blood flow in an artery in the brain, during which a catheter is deployed through an artery in the groin up to the site of the clot.
While still a fellow, Sarraj devised a new scoring method to help physicians determine if a patient is a candidate for intra-arterial therapy. Called the Houston Intra-Arterial Therapy 2 "HIAT2" score, the new method earned him the Mordecai Y.T. Globus New Investigator Award in Stroke from the American Stroke Association (ASA) in 2012.
The dilemma for neurologists is that while intra-arterial therapy re-opens a clogged artery in 80 percent of patients, ONLY 30 PERCENT have an improved outcome.
"Even if you open the vessel, there can be too much damage that has already occurred,"(Wrong. You haven't stopped the damage that continues to occur in the death cascade) said Sarraj, who is an attending physician at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center and Mischer Neuroscience Institute at Memorial Hermann. "We need to be able to select the right patients."(Wrong, wrong, wrong. Determine why your patients don't all recover, your assumption is wrong.)
At the recent ASA International Stroke Conference, Sarraj presented new study findings that revealed blood circulation flow, the extent of damage and patient age may be more important than arrival time when physicians are predicting which patients would benefit the most from intra-arterial therapy.
The new grant will fund a multi-institutional study that will evaluate different selection methods currently being used to see which one has the greatest probability of selecting the patients most likely to benefit from intra-arterial therapy. There are potential health care cost savings, he said, by avoiding an unnecessary procedure. The new study is called Optimizing Patient's Selection for Endovascular Treatment in Acute Ischemic Stroke (SELECT).
"This project has become all the more important as new published studies are beginning to show benefit of endovascular therapy for acute stroke," said Sean I. Savitz, M.D., professor of neurology and director of the UTHealth Stroke Program and Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center Stroke Center. "This grant represents the culmination of several years of research that Amrou has been doing. We are very proud of him."
"Now that endovascular therapy is a proven treatment, future trials should assess strategies to enhance clinical outcomes and optimization of patient selection and SELECT will take the lead," Sarraj said. "Informing stroke patients' families on their chances of having good outcomes after intra-arterial therapy is crucial; we hope the study will bring an answer to that".
Sarraj credits mentors including Savitz; Andrew Barreto, M.D., associate professor of neurology; Jon E. Tyson, M.D., M.P.H., professor of pediatrics and director of the Center for Clinical Research and Evidence-Based Medicine; Kathleen A. Kennedy, M.D., M.P.H., the Richard W. Mithoff Professor of Pediatrics and director of the MS Clinical Research Degree Program; and Charles Green, Ph.D., associate professor at the Center for Clinical Research and Evidence-Based Medicine. Sarraj is a graduate of the masters' degree research program.
"I would also like to thank Mark Paul and Mark O'Brien for their vision," Sarraj said. Paul is the president of the Neurovascular Division of Stryker Neurovascular while O'Brien is vice-president of Customer Excellence.
Source:
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
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