Jan. 18, 2021
Researchers develop new tool to assess stroke treatment
When someone arrives at the hospital showing signs of a stroke, every minute counts. A stroke means there is an interruption of blood flow to the brain. Quick and accurate imaging is essential for health-care practitioners to make prompt diagnosis and treatment decisions.
草莓污视频导航 researchers at the have created a quick and effective decision support tool to provide detailed images of the blockages in the brain.听 Simple Perfusion Reconstruction Algorithm (SPIRAL) is an imaging technique that measures blood flow in the brain and pinpoints where the blockage is without using some current methods involving additional contrast dyes.
- Pictured above:听Christopher d鈥橢sterre, left,听and Philip Barber.听Photo courtesy Christopher d'Esterre
Dr. Christopher d鈥橢sterre, PhD, says the team is essentially applying aerospace models to studies of the brain. 鈥淲e often see these approaches applied in coronary situations and with other diseases throughout the body, but something like this technology has never been used with ischemic stroke treatment. We are the first to try this.鈥
鈥淲hat we have developed will allow more Canadian stroke centres to conduct endovascular procedures in the future,鈥 says Dr. Philip Barber, MD. 鈥By avoiding the additional scans required currently, there are many advantages in terms of time and cost savings. This new technology is a significant innovation.鈥
The current diagnostic approach for stroke can include three steps: a听computerized tomography scan (CT or CAT scan), a CT angiography (CTA), when dye is injected into blood vessels which can then show where an artery is blocked, and CT perfusion (CTP), where a further injection of dye and an additional scan provide even greater detail to help health-care practitioners make treatment decisions about the benefit and safety of unblocking the artery.
The team is generating an entire program based on the one helical CTA scan, which provides a picture of what's happening at the tissue level, at the vascular level and at the clot level. Findings are published in the .
鈥淚t has taken us about six years to bring this idea to fruition,鈥 says Barber.
Through , Barber and d鈥橢sterre have launched Andromeda Medical Imaging Systems Inc., where they are developing advanced neuroimaging algorithms, including structural/functional and clinical prediction models with a focus on stroke and dementia patients.
鈥淲e鈥檙e moving toward regulatory approval for SPIRAL, and we have a commercial partner in Europe who will help us bring our algorithms to market quickly,鈥 says d鈥橢sterre, who is also CEO of Andromeda Medical Imaging Systems.
This clinical research translates to innovation that is not only expected to help stroke patients, but is also turning out to be an incubator for research breakthroughs that lead to commercialization.
鈥淭his is one of many examples of exciting technologies being developed at the 草莓污视频导航鈥檚 Cumming School of Medicine, in collaboration with partners like Alberta Health Services and Innovate Calgary,鈥 says Dr. David Park, PhD, director of the Hotchkiss Brain Institute. 鈥淥ur researchers continue moving toward innovative and impactful technologies with a dual goal to advance health care and boost Alberta鈥檚 economy.鈥
This work was supported by听听through a grant-in-aid for the REPERFUSE study.
Philip Barber is an associate professor of neurology and adjunct professor in the Departments of and at the Cumming School of Medicine. He is the director of the Calgary Stroke Prevention Clinic and is a member of the Calgary Stroke Program and the Hotchkiss Brain Institute.
Christopher d鈥橢sterre is the CEO of Andromeda Medical Imaging and an adjunct professor in the Department of Clinical Neurosciences at the 草莓污视频导航.
Led by the听,听听is one of six research strategies guiding the 草莓污视频导航 toward its听Eyes High听goals. The strategy provides a unifying direction for brain and mental health research at the university.