The University Of Tennessee College Of Medicine has introduced a mobile stroke unit capable of conducting and producing advanced quality imaging for stroke diagnosis and noninvasive CT-angiography with a Siemens SOMATOM® Scope CT scanner.
According to UT, it is the first time CT capabilities of this magnitude have been available in a mobile setting, creating the ability to diagnose and launch treatment including tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) treatment and the potent blood pressure drug nicardipine within the critical first-hour time frame and select patients for endovascular interventions, neurosurgery and neuro-critical care directly from the pre-hospital arena.
While other Mobile Stroke Units have been launched in a small number of communities, the combination of many firsts in terms of mobile application and utilization make UT’s the most complete Mobile Stroke Unit in the world. Those other Mobile Stroke Units allow for initial treatment to begin quickly and for prepping for emergency room arrival, while the sophistication of The UT College of Medicine Mobile Stroke Unit means a patient will be prepped to go straight to the catheterization laboratory, Neuro Intensive Care Unit or Hospital Stroke Unit, bypassing the stop in the emergency department entirely.
The Mobile Stroke Unit, weighing in at more than 14 tons, includes features and capabilities, including:
- A hospital-quality CT scanner with advanced imaging capabilities to not only allow brain imaging, but also imaging of blood vessels in the brain.
- The features allow it to bypass hospital emergency departments and take patients directly to endovascular suites, operating rooms, stroke or neurocritical units.
- Its size and internal power source is capable of matching regular electrical outlet access and facilitates staffing of troke fellowship-trained, doctorally-prepared nurses certified as advanced neurovascular practitioners, ANVP-BC.