Stickers to monitor stroke patients

For patients with stroke, it is very necessary to be hospitalized under the care of physicians. In the course of treatment, up to one third of patients have a second stroke. So the nursing staff must regularly pay attention to these patients.

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To determine the next stroke risk need to monitor blood pressure and oxygen levels in the brain. Current measures are both invasive and moderately harmful to patients. Usually to test people have to use CT scanner many times, this method can cause bodily injury because of excessive radiation dose.

Now, a new device is being developed at Mayo Hospital in Florida (USA), made simply by shining light on the patient's forehead. The device is testing using near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) form like a patch on the patient's forehead. Near-infrared light will pass through the forehead skin and deep into the head about 2.5cm to collect data on blood pressure and brain oxygen levels.

Comparing the use of NIRS with CT on eight patients to monitor blood flow levels and brain tumors all produced similar results. However, these are just initial trials with limited practice models, so further research is needed.

The scientists also hope to shrink the size of the NIRS to use on the battlefield to track soldiers damaged in the brain.