Revolutionary Stroke Detector To Be Tested In Hunter Region

New South Wales' Hunter Region is about to become the testing ground for Swedish firm Medfield Diagnostics' new microwave-imaging headpiece for stroke and other traumatic brain injuries.

The device, called the Strokefinder MD100, is designed to help ambulance and emergency teams quickly diagnose these sorts of injuries via early detection to potentially allow for treatment to be performed en route to hospital.

Medfield Diagnostics has signed an agreement with the Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI) in Newcastle to conduct the research and explore possibilities.

HMRI director professor Michael Nilsson said the Strokefinder was born of research by Professor Mikael Persson and neurophysiologist Mikael Elam, from the Chalmers University of Technology and Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg respectively. Both researchers have strong links to Australian research.

“They began using microwaves to investigate changes in brain density and their work eventually led to a focus on stroke and the problem of diagnosis," Professor Nilsson said.

Senior Staff Neurologist professor Chris Levi at John Hunter Hospital and Director of Clinical Research and Translation for Hunter New England Health said that time-saving measures are critical when an ischemic stroke occurs, particularly in remote areas where travel to hospital can take much longer.

“The faster we begin thrombolysis treatment to dissolve the clot, the more brain can be salvaged,” Professor Levi said.

“However, we must be absolutely sure that it’s not a haemorrhagic stroke, which occurs around 20 per cent of the time, because the treatment paths are vastly different.”

The Strokefinder imaging system differs at the most basic level from x-ray and ultrasound. It employs sophisticated microwave technology adapted from mobile phone and defence applications. It is compact, powerful, portable and has no known side effects.

The patient’s head is placed directly on the device and sequentially scanned by antennas emitting low-energy microwaves. These pulses “scatter” in brain matter, and bleeding patterns are then differentiated via an image-generating algorithm.

With preliminary studies having been conducted by Sahlgrenska University Hospital’s Stroke Unit, involving over 200 stroke patients, HMRI/Hunter New England Health researchers now plan to involve patients in the Hunter and extend the trial into the ambulance domain for the first time.

“The long-term goal is to have the Strokefinder in all ambulances, like the defibrillator for stroke,” Professor Nilsson said.

“The accuracy has been very good so far and if the platform can reach the level of CT scanning when it comes to diagnostic safety, it means that clot-busting treatment can start directly. The future looks promising.”

Medfield Diagnostics will provide personnel to assist HMRI in analysing results and further refining the device.

“It is a unique opportunity for us to be part of this project,” Professor Nilsson said.

“The company turned to us because we are world leaders in stroke care and research, and the region itself provides a microcosm of rural and metropolitan communities.

“We’re also fortunate to have a very progressive ambulance service that works closely with the Stroke Unit at John Hunter Hospital.”

The first Strokefinder is expected to arrive during the first half of 2015