High-tech glass helps detect stroke

Developed over the past few years by Cerebrotech Medical Systems in California, the device uses a process known as the short-term universal impedance phase transducer (VIPS) to detect stroke.

This glass is placed on the patient's head, it works by emitting low energy radio waves moving through the left and right hemispheres. When these waves pass through the fluid in the brain, their frequency changes. The device operator will evaluate these changes by frequency, and compare the parameters of the two hemispheres. If their frequency is markedly different, it indicates that stroke may occur - the greater the difference in frequency in the brain, the more severe the stroke will be.

In a recent study done at the South Carolina School of Medicine and elsewhere, emergency medical staff used this device to assess patients who suspect a stroke. Each patient will be tested by device 3 times and the results are averaged. Nervous images are then used to provide accurate diagnosis.

The VIPS glasses operator was found to have a 92% accuracy rate when determining which patients had a severe stroke. Although that score may not be perfect, it is better than the accuracy that emergency personnel use "standard physical test tools" with an accuracy of only 40 to 89%.

A research paper funded by Cerebrotech has just been published in the Journal of NeuroInterventional Surgery
Visor has received FDA approval, but perhaps this glass has not yet been commercialized.