The time it takes to identify a stroke and transport a patient to the hospital to be diagnosed can shape the rest of a person’s life, researchers say.

To accelerate critical diagnosis time, Swedish researchers are developing a new medical instrument, Strokefinder, which will enable paramedics to diagnose strokes right from the ambulance.

Strokefinder is a helmet-shaped tool that transmits weak microwave signals into the brain to diagnose whether the stroke is a bleeding stroke or a clot-induced stroke. The difference is important, said Mikael Elam, Strokefinder project leader and professor of clinical neurophysiology at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Sweden.

The blood-thinning treatment given to victims of a clot-induced stroke to dissolve the blood clots could prove fatal if the victim was suffering a bleeding stroke.

Elam collaborated with a team of researchers at the Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, led by Mikael Persson, a professor of biomedical engineering.

Over the course of 10 years the researchers have been testing how microwaves penetrate the brain, and developing Strokefinder to use that technology to diagnose strokes.

The researchers conducted a study with 45 patients, recently published in the IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering journal, which showed Strokefinder could differentiate clearly between bleeding strokes and clot-induced strokes.

Strokes are caused when blood flow is cut off to the brain, resulting in millions of brain cells dying due to oxygen deprivation, said Andrei Alexandrov, a neurologist and professor at the University of Tennessee.

This can lead to permanent disability if the stroke is not diagnosed and treated within the first few hours.


• Sudden weakness on one side of the body

• Sudden facial drooping on one side

• Problems speaking and seeing

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