Portable Noninvasive Acoustic Identification of Stroke

DESCRIPTION: (Verbatim from the Applicant's Abstract) Active Signal Technologies, in partnership with the Brain Attack Team of the University of Maryland Medical Center, proposes to develop a novel portable, non-invasive system that will enable rapid identification of stroke. Approximately 750,000 people suffer a stroke each year and over 80 percent of these are ischemic. Yet only 1 percent of the entire number receive medical treatment such as TPA that is known to dissolve clots and promote favorable outcome if administered within 3 hours of onset. Among the many causes of this serious health and ultimately economic problem is the inability to rapidly differentiate ischemic from hemorrhagic strokes to allow intervention. During phase-I, the team will investigate acoustic signatures of persons with stroke to determine if this differentiation can be made. The device used will be a modified version of a small non-invasive acoustic system developed by Active Signal and successfully tested on trauma patients. Hypotheses for stroke identification determined in Phase I will be clinically tested in a Phase II blind trial. The ultimate goal is to develop a system for EMS units to increase the percentage of ischemic stroke patients who would receive time-sensitive therapies. This would significantly reduce disability and medical costs. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: Not Available