Faster tools to detect stroke are now in progress. Detecting stroke on the onset, after all, is very critical to ensure efficacy of treatment and avoid the likelihood of lifetime disability and eminent death.
Current tools used in emergency situations involve the use of the FAST Test. That's Facial weakness, Arm weakness, Speech problems, and Time in determining if a person is suffering a stroke. This method has been very useful so far and has, in fact, saved lives.
However, there is still the difficulty of diagnosing stroke in this way as there are some illnesses with similar symptoms and it is only after brain imaging has been accomplished could the patient be diagnosed as having a stroke. There is still a big window of opportunity to make stroke diagnosis better and faster.
An emergency-diagnostic device is now being developed out of photonic crystals technology meant to satisfy the sensitivity, user-friendly, and costly requirements of stroke diagnosis. This device has the ability to rapidly detect the biochemical markers present in the patient's blood to diagnose stroke. Created by UK-based consortium P3SENS, the diagnostic device is currently being integrated into a panel of Bio-Recognition Elements and low cost production technology to make it a novel biosensor system.
Going beyond medical devices, another team of experts have decided to identify how to diagnose stroke before it even occurs by studying the evolution of arterial plaque. Scientists involved in this study have investigated the factors that contribute to the development of plaque in the arteries as a means to identify the indices that could be used to predict rupture of a specific plaque, which would either mean a heart or brain attack.
Statistics show that 60% of all heart and brain attacks are caused by arterial plaque while, knowing what triggers it will be very beneficial to avoid its consequences. Dr. Dalin Tang, head scientists leading the study, notes that, "while the link between plaque buildup and cardiovascular disease has long been recognized, the factors that cause plaques to form, grow, and rupture have been less clearly understood."
Made of cholesterol and other fats, calcium, fibrin, and other materials, arterial plaques develop a thin membranous or fibrous cap when they reach an advanced stage. They simultaneously cause the narrowing of arteries as their deposits grow, which in turn causes a lower supply of oxygen and nutrients in the blood carried to the body that increases stress on the heart. The contents of the plaque are released into the bloodstream when it ruptures, forming a blood clot at the site of the rupture and causing an arterial block. This contributes to a stroke or a heart attack eventually.
Definitely, faster tools to detect stroke are now in progress. This would be useful not only to those who have not suffered a stroke yet and to those who have already suffered a stroke. Hopefully, these tools will get in circulation at the soonest possible time to save more lives.
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