June 1, 2007
NEW YORK.- NeuroLogica Corporation, a neuroscience-based medical imaging company, recently announced that in recognition of Stroke Awareness Month (May), the company wants to remind Americans of the warning signs and symptoms of stroke while also emphasizing the importance of rapid medical assistance and diagnosis. The Company's goal is to ensure better symptom awareness, faster diagnosis and ultimately save and improve the lives of stroke patients.
Symptom awareness and reduced time to diagnosis are the most critical factors in achieving better outcomes of stroke. The quicker a patient receives a CT scan, the faster a treatment path can be determined and ultimately better outcomes can be achieved. According to the American Stroke Association (ASA), stroke symptoms include:
- Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body.
- Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding.
- Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes.
- Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination.
- Sudden, severe headache with no known cause.
The ASA also reports that stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States, and a leading cause of serious long-term disability, as every year about 700,000 Americans suffer a new or recurrent stroke. People need to be able to recognize these symptoms and then arrive at the emergency room as quickly as possible to be diagnosed. The organization also reports that the best clinical outcomes typically occur when treatment is administered within 3 hours of the onset of symptoms, but only twenty to twenty-five percent of patients arrive at the emergency room within this window.
"It is vital for people showing symptoms of stroke to be transported as quickly as possible to the closest medical facility to receive emergency treatment," said Diane Clifford, Director of Global Marketing for NeuroLogica. "It is our collective responsibility to recognize the symptoms of stroke and act quickly to ensure the doctors have the best possible chance to help the patient. NeuroLogica has been able to dramatically support doctors in this process with our portable CT scanner, the CereTom. The CereTom creates a fast door-to-scan time, allowing the patient to be diagnosed and treated quickly."
The door-to-scan time in an emergency room can vary depending on the day, hour, hospital, and symptom, and it is critical that patients presenting with stroke symptoms receive a brain scan immediately. Since the CereTom is portable, it allows patients to be scanned in the emergency room, no longer requiring them to be transported to radiology to receive a CT scan, thus reducing time to diagnosis and allowing rapid administration of treatment.
The CereTom is 29 inches long, about five feet tall and four feet wide and weighs approximately 750 pounds, and is designed for use in the ER, OR, ICU, MICU, SICU, NICU, interventional suite or any medical clinic. |
