UT Launches Mobile Unit with Advanced CT Imaging Capabilities

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.

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 stroke fellowship-trained, doctorally-prepared nurses certified as advanced neurovascular practitioners, ANVP-BC.
The Mobile Stroke Unit will be staffed with stroke fellowship-trained, doctorally-prepared nurses certified as advanced neurovascular practitioners, ANVP-BC.
The Mobile Stroke Unit capacity includes the ability to transport trainees and researchers interested in building the science of early stroke management.

“We have a tremendous burden of stroke in Shelby County, with a stroke rate per 100,000 population that is 37 percent higher than the national average,” said David Stern, MD, Vice-Chancellor for Clinical Affairs for the UT College of Medicine and UT Health Science Center (UTHSC). “The goal of the Mobile Stroke Unit is to minimize morbidity and mortality, to have more patients walk out of the hospital fully functional. Time is everything for stroke treatment; the quicker we are able to assess and attend to a patient, the better his or her chances are for recovery.”

According to the American Stroke Association, stroke is the fifth leading cause of death in the United States, killing someone approximately every four minutes. African Americans have nearly twice the risk of a first-ever stroke and a much higher death rate from stroke.

“If we eliminate the treatment delay getting to and through the emergency room, we can save up to 90 minutes, and as a neurologist, I know that time is brain, so the more time we save, the less likely it is that permanent brain damage will occur in a patient. Our hypothesis is that we will deliver hospital-level standard of stroke care faster, equally safe, but with better outcomes due to the ability to intervene much earlier,” said Andrei V. Alexandrov, MD, Chairman of the Department of Neurology at UTHSC and Semmes-Murphey Professor.

“Our ‘time to treatment’ target is less than one hour.”

The UT Mobile Stroke Unit is funded through a public -private collaboration for which more than $3 million has been raised, which will enable operation for up to three years. The Unit will operate 12 hours a day, one week on and one week off beginning late April 2016.

“The Mobile Stroke Unit will be based in the heart of a 10-mile, most critical needs areas of Memphis with the highest incidence of stroke, but can be deployed within the entire metro region. We estimate that 300 patients will need to be treated by the Mobile Stroke Unit to prove its effectiveness over the course of three years,” Alexandrov said. “We believe this study will help establish a baseline of results that medical communities worldwide can use to develop and deploy similar programs to affect stroke outcomes. Our goal is a sustainable model for future funding and an overall lowering of morbidity and mortality through early treatment.”

“The launch of this Mobile Stroke Unit is a true community collaboration of donors, hospitals, local EMS and the University,” said Stern. “Beyond the highest quality education and research, our focus at the UT College of Medicine is to ensure our research and clinical efforts translate into a positive impact on the health of our community. The Mobile Stroke Unit is a perfect example of this commitment.”

The Mobile Stroke Unit will be operated by a subsidiary of the UT College of Medicine’s faculty practice plan – University Clinical Health, an affiliated tax-exempt, nonprofit corporation.