Siemens Healthineers announced a new mobile solution to support stroke diagnosis, designed to speed up therapy decisions and get patients the right treatment as quickly as possible.
It's based on the computed tomography (CT) scanner Somatom On.site, which can be integrated into an ambulance. It delivers high image quality, comparable to stationary scanners, that aids the reliable detection of ischemia or bleeding. It also has a special telescopic gantry that allows easier positioning of the patient’s head in the scanner whilst remaining on the stretcher. Using the digital solution Stroke Connect, hospital physicians can assess clinical patient data remotely. This telemedicine approach allows clinical experts to evaluate the patient in advance, accelerating therapy decisions before the patient reaches the designated hospital.
Somatom On.site can be integrated into ambulances and provides head CT images at the point of care for critically-ill patients with the high-end quality usually produced by hospital scanners. An integrated head holder makes sure that the patient’s head is fixed in the correct, isocentric position of the scanner. Motion artifacts usually caused by scanner movements can be reduced, thanks to the fixed trolley and unique telescopic gantry of Somatom On.site. The digital platform Stroke Connect allows for end-to-end image transfer, thereby bridging pre- and in-hospital data silos. This enables hospital staff, such as radiologists and neurologists, to operate remotely via audio and video and assess the severity of the stroke, optimizing resources without compromising on care quality. Early diagnosis in the field allows patients to be directly triaged to specialized care, such as the angio suite for thrombectomy.
