Scientists have developed a portable scanner a PET scanning helmet that could identify whether a person has suffered from stroke literally within 30 seconds and prevents from serious disability. The device also shows the extent of brain damage. This would be very handy for Britons as according to estimates 1,52,000 suffer from stroke every year and it also improves the chances of recovery.
Julie Brefczynski-Lewis, of the West Virginia University, unveiled the device at the American Association for the Advancement of Science's annual meeting in Boston. The scanner is known as an 'ambulatory positron emission tomography' device, or 'Ampet' and resembles a hat.
Stokes is the major cause of disability in U.K with 50 % of them are left disabled. Unlike the large MRI scanners in hospitals that weigh as much as 90 tons, Ampet weighs 6lbs and is portable that can be carried in ambulances, by paramedics, sports or in the battlefield. This device comes handy for sports persons where often they are met with collisions on the field.
How does it Work?
-In general, in case of stroke, it is the penumbra region of the brain that is usually affected
-The patient is initially given an injection of glucose containing a mildly radioactive chemical that is identified by the scanner.
-The scanner locates the areas of the brain correctly absorbing sugar which is an indication of correct functionality.
-On the other hand, the affected areas do not absorb sugar and can be intervened immediately with drugs or surgery to prevent further damage
-The scanner also identifies the extent of damage as small as 2 to 3mm.
According to stokes association, about 52 percent of stroke patients fail to get a brain scan within one hour of arrival in hospital and more than one in three patients are left to wait for more than 12 hours for brain scans
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