A new smartphone app helps recognize common stroke symptoms the moment they occur, for better patient care.
- Every year, 15 million people have a stroke: 5 million of them die and 5 million suffer permanent disability, according to the WHO.
- Stroke is the second leading cause of death worldwide, according to the Stroke Research Foundation.
An app as precise as a neurologist to diagnose a stroke? This is demonstrated preliminary research on a new smartphone app called FAST.AI, developed to help stroke victims or their families and caregivers recognize common stroke symptoms in real time.
Stroke: the app is 100% reliable in spotting symptoms
The signs of a stroke can be very varied: a motor deficit, the mouth which deviates, the arm which does not rise well, difficulties in expressing oneself, visual disturbances or even numbness of a limb. They are often lateralized, meaning they only appear on one side of the body, says the‘Brain Institute.
Through a video of the patient’s face, the app examines 68 landmarks. Additionally, it uses sensors that measure arm movement and orientation and voice recordings that detect changes in speech. Information from each test is sent to a database server for analysis.
Researchers tested FAST.AI on nearly 270 patients with an average age of 71 years, 41% of whom were women, who were diagnosed with an acute stroke within 72 hours of admission to hospital at four major centers in stroke in Bulgaria from July 2021 to July 2022. The neurologists who examined the patients tested the application and then compared the results of FAST.AI with their clinical impressions.
The performance of the app is remarkable: facial asymmetry associated with stroke was detected in nearly 100% of patients. The app also accurately spotted arm weakness in more than two-thirds of cases. Preliminary analyzes also confirmed that it could reliably detect speech disorders, according to the researchers.
The app can help save the lives of stroke victims
This tool could thus save lives. Indeed, early recognition of stroke symptoms can allow victims to call the emergency room sooner and get faster treatment, which can minimize the long-term effects of a stroke and improve the chances of full recovery.
A cerebrovascular accident is the sudden stoppage of blood circulation in part of the brain, recalls the High Authority of Health (HAS). Three out of four strokes are due to a clot in an artery that blocks blood flow to the brain, these are ischemic strokes. Therefore, anticoagulant therapy should be given within three hours (up to four and a half hours in some eligible patients) of the onset of symptoms. The faster the treatment is given, the greater the chance of recovery.
Previous research showed that stroke patients who are treated within 90 minutes of their first symptoms were almost three times more likely to recover with little or no disability compared to those who received treatment longer than 90 minutes after the onset of symptoms.
“Many stroke patients do not make it to the hospital in time to receive clot-breaking treatment, which is one of the reasons why it is vital to recognize stroke symptoms and to call the emergency services immediatelysaid study author Radoslav I. Raychev, clinical professor of neurology and vascular neurologist at the University of California, Los Angeles.
The app is still in development and not yet available to the public.
