Prehospital use of transcranial ultrasound to diagnose strokes is feasible, according to this paper. The study required stroke neurologists to rendezvous with paramedics on possible stroke calls and perform a physical exam and a transcranial ultrasound. The authors found a sensitivity of 78% and specificity of 98% diagnosing 73 strokes and 29 stroke mimics out of a total 232 patients enrolled.
The authors conclude, “Future combination with telemedical support, point-of-care analysis of blood serum markers, and probability algorithms of prehospital stroke diagnosis including ultrasound may help to speed up stroke treatment.”
