Problem/Objective

Apollo Hospitals Group has partnered with India Medtronic to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) for advanced stroke management for the first time in India. Around 1.8 million people in India suffer from a stroke every year and it is only early treatment that can reduce morbidity and mortality. The AI software will provide automated analysis in less than two minutes as against currently accepted imaging practices for diagnosis of stroke that take up to one hour to complete, enabling faster decision making in stroke where every second counts. The US FDA approved AI platform for stroke diagnosis has been validated by clinical trials. Medtronic will support Apollo Hospitals with technical expertise, training and setting up of comprehensive stroke centres aiming at reducing door to needle time.

Solution/Approach

The software will use artificial intelligence to create high quality, advanced images from non-contrast CT, CT angiography, CT perfusion, and MRI diffusion and perfusion scans, helping hospitals to improve time-critical triage or transfer decisions. The use of AI will reduce diagnosis time from 60 min to 2 min; the time saved is brain cells saved as every minute of delay leads to 2m more brain cells dying. The stroke team will be able to remotely access the brain scans of stroke patients with the AI analysis on mobile app or email for faster decision making without losing time. Other benefits include physicians being able to evaluate the patients remotely and visit in-person only when the AI analysis of the scans suggest indication for treatment. This will help to reduce unnecessary exposure in a COVID situation. The AI system will also generate a valid document proof to support the clinician’s decision taken on the course of treatment for a stroke patient. A stroke at odd hours of night will not result in patient losing time for an expert review to begin treatment. Every patient will receive appropriate treatment as per the indication and not lose any treatment opportunity.

 Impact/Implementation

Through this partnership, Medtronic will help bringing in stroke technologies, technical expertise, training and comprehensive stroke management with the integration of AI platform at the Apollo Institute of Neurosciences at 10 locations across the country. As the time between onset of stroke to treatment is significantly reduced, it can help in improving outcome, reducing hospital stay and saving costs for the patient not just on hospitalisation but also on follow-up and rehabilitation. The standardisation of stroke diagnosis will empower clinicians to make faster and more accurate diagnosis and treatment decisions.

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