Oxford – An ambitious collaboration between Brainomix, an emerging British business, and Boehringer Ingelheim, one of the world’s largest drug companies, is poised to expedite and improve treatment of stroke, the second biggest killer disease in Europe.
The Brainomix team has pioneered the rapid digital analysis of scans of patients admitted to hospital with stroke. With the potential to save vital time for stroke victims, the e-ASPECTS software acts as a standardized and rapid decision support tool that assists physicians on site to choose an appropriate treatment based on the magnitude and nature of the brain damage.
e-ASPECTS has been selected by Boehringer Ingelheim to be part of a breakthrough pan-European collaboration called the Angels Initiative, a unique healthcare initiative launched by the European Stroke Organisation and Boehringer Ingelheim, which aims to improve acute stroke care in Europe by building a community of over 1,500 stroke centers.
"We share a common vision to improve early diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients globally”, said Dr Georg van Husen, Senior Vice President, Therapeutic Area Cardiometabolism, Boehringer Ingelheim. “Imaging is a vital part of stroke diagnosis and treatment decision-making. We are very pleased to collaborate with Brainomix to make the validated e-ASPECTS software available as part of the Angels Initiative.”
As part of the Angels Initiative, Brainomix is offering six-months’ free use of its e-ASPECTS software to hospitals enroled in the program. Hospitals in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain have already signed up to take advantage of the e-ASPECTS offer. The e-ASPECTS software is already assisting stroke centers in many other countries including the UK, Austria, Brazil, Finland, Germany and Sweden. e-ASPECTS uses artificial intelligence to automatically apply the Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score (ASPECTS) method that clinicians use to assess damage to the brain on plain CT scans.
Brainomix CEO and co-founder, Dr Michalis Papadakis said “We are honoured to be part of this initiative and to partner with two of the most prominent organizations in our field. Working to improve care across the board is of vital importance. We are excited that hospitals are enthusiastic about implementing e-ASPECTS as a tool to improve the efficiency of stroke treatments in countries that are now developing stroke centers.”
Brainomix co-founder Alastair Buchan, Professor of Stroke Medicine at the University of Oxford, and inventor of the ASPECTS score, explained “The ASPECTS method has proven to be very effective in making stroke treatment decisions, however, it can be difficult to apply manually, especially for clinicians less experienced in stroke diagnosis. The e-ASPECTS software automates the ASPECTS method, providing vital decision-making support for hospitals in the Angels Initiative, thereby helping to ensure the right treatment is given to the right patients.”
Interested hospitals and clinicians can obtain more information and become part of the Angels Initiative at www.angels-initiative.com.
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