McLaren Health Care, headquartered in Grand Blanc, has expanded its statewide McLaren Stroke Network through the addition of technology, called RapidAI, that results in quicker, time-critical treatment decisions for stroke care.
RapidAI applies artificial intelligence to advanced imaging to analyze clinical data, expedite clinical decisions, and connect the care team on a single, FDA-approved and HIPAA-compliant platform.
“Time is critical during a stroke, and the sooner we, the physicians, receive the information we need to make a thorough diagnosis, the sooner we can activate a care plan and increase the patients’ chances of achieving an enhanced clinical outcome,” says Dr. Aniel Majjhoo, interventional neurologist and neurosciences medical director at McLaren Health Care. “Adding this platform is a significant advancement to our program — one with the capacity to save our patients from the potentially devastating effects of stroke.”
Already the largest stroke program in the state, the addition of this technology adds to the program’s care capabilities, which has already garnered recognition from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association and The Joint Commission.
The technology is capable of recommending which stroke patients should undergo a thrombectomy, the procedure in which the interventional neurologist tunnels a catheter from the groin to the brain in order to remove the stroke-causing clot restricting blood flow in the brain.
With the technology’s capabilities validated by several major clinical trials, adding the platform improves the McLaren Stroke Network’s clinical decision time and time to patient treatment, metrics that already best national benchmarks.
All Michigan-based McLaren hospitals — including Clarkston, Flint, Lansing, Lapeer, and Mt. Clemens in the metro Detroit area — are part of the system’s Stroke Network.
Through its use of telemedicine technology, every suspected stroke patient is evaluated by an interventional neurologist with extensive experience in the diagnosis and treatment of stroke aiding in the development and execution of a potentially lifesaving care plan.
Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death and the leading cause of adult disability in the U.S. With hypertension — high blood pressure, a main risk factor for stroke — on the rise, the risk for stroke is increasing.
Learn more about the McLaren Stroke Network and how to spot the signs of stroke at mclaren.org/stroke.
