A UK company has developed software that rapidly scans and assesses the brain to help clinicians manage and treat stroke patients.
There are over 100,000 strokes per year in the UK alone; treatment for which is heavily time-dependant. With every minute lost, there is the potential to severely impact patient outcomes.
Oxford-based company Brainomix is aiming to speed up the pace of stroke treatment through AI-enabled software that provides clinicians with additional analysis and insight.
Founded in 2010 as an offshoot from the University of Oxford, the company has since developed a suite of software that is currently used in approximately 200 hospitals worldwide.
In July of this year, The University of Oxford Hospital Trust and the surrounding network in the Thames Valley have installed the software. Brainomix says this will allow hospitals to communicate with each other by instantly sharing images and results from brain scans.
Jeff Wyrtzen, head of marketing and business development at Brainomix, says: “The way we’d like to think about it is that we’re a supplement to existing platforms. We are what’s called a decision support tool. So, our software isn’t making the decision; we are simply providing additional details that will help that physician make a decision more confidently.
“What our software does is provide an additional level of analysis and support to better inform the physician about the best route to take in terms of management, treatment and referral.”
The company’s software, called the e-Stroke Suite, covers three elements of stroke imaging, from the initial scans when the patient is first admitted, to more advanced stroke imaging at specialist centres.
e-ASPECTS was the original product developed by Brainomix and the first software of its kind in the world. It is intended for non-contrast CT imaging, which is the most basic type of brain scan and usually the first to be administered to a suspected stroke patient.
Scans of this type often take place in a small, local hospital and due to the time-sensitivity of stroke treatment, may be carried out by non-experts. Brainomix says its e-ASPECTS software bridges the gap in expertise by providing clinicians with a ’second set of eyes’.
Wyrtzen says: “The e-ASPECTS software speaks to our history as a company because what we’ve always been focused on is trying to maximise the value that can be drawn from the simplest of imaging.
“What we’re looking to do is to be able to provide a solution for all the different levels of imaging that a stroke patient may undergo to best inform medical professionals.”
Following a CT scan, a stroke patient may require a CTA scan which assesses the arteries of the brain and indicates how much of the brain is deteriorating. As the second tool in the suite, Brainomix says its e-CTA software helps doctors assess the results and indicates whether the patient needs to be transferred to a specialist centre for advanced treatment such as thrombectomy.
For advanced stroke imaging, Brainomix released its third software, e-Mismatch, which is designed for experts at specialist stroke centres who may be carrying out more nuanced assessments of the brain.
Wyrtzen says: “Our software is installed in a way that makes it completely automatic. If the patient is going to be scanned, the software automatically takes that scan, processes it and then creates an output that allows the doctor to see a little bit more than what they would without the software. The reason we do this is we want to make it as seamless and effective as possible.”
The company recently launched a mobile app to accompany its stroke software, which allows on-call doctors to receive an image of a scan within 30 seconds and decide on the type of treatment the patient needs.
Brainomix is due to release its latest updates shortly as it moves into the tenth version of its software, which the company says will allow for the detection of bleeding in the brain.
Wyrtzen says: “[This] is very important for stroke treatment. If a patient is bleeding, then you’re not able to administer what’s called thrombolysis, which is the drug that helps to break down a clot.
“We will also be able to detect if there’s an occlusion in the brain which would mean the patient needs to be transferred to a special centre for thrombectomy.”
Brainomix says it is the current market leader in the UK and Europe, with close links to the NHS and other UK institutions.
The company is now making inroads into the US market, with some of its technology being cleared for use and collaborations struck up between institutions such as the academic medical centre, Mayo Clinic.
