Decision support tool for stroke patients

A decision support computing tool for evaluating a patient suffering from acute stroke at a first treatment facility and providing time-based decision support to determine if transportation to a second treatment facility to effect reperfusion treatment at the second treatment facility would be effective for the patient, comprising:

• an image interface to receive patient brain electronic images at the first treatment facility;
• a processor to:
• receive patient clinical information;
• generate a patient brain imaging profile using the patient brain scan electronic images and the patient clinical information, the imaging profile identifying a quantity and eloquence of brain tissue that is irreversibly infarcted, an estimated rate or quantity of patient brain tissue that will become irreversibly infarcted at a future time, a thrombus morphology associated with an estimate of a thrombus dissolving at the future time, and an estimated collateral blood flow;
• determine an estimated transport time to transfer the patient from the first treatment facility to the second treatment facility and an estimated treatment time for receiving reperfusion at the second treatment facility;
• and
• dynamically determining a patient assessment profile by:
• processing the patient clinical information, the patient brain imaging profile, the estimated transport time from the first treatment facility to the second treatment facility, and the estimated treatment time to generate input data values;
• dynamically deriving weighting factors as an assessment of importance or relevance of the input data values and assigning the weighting factors to the input data values;
• deriving time-based output data values for the patient assessment profile using the input data values and the weighting factors, the output data values being a probability of an expert treatment decision for transferring the patient from the first treatment facility to the second treatment facility and providing the reperfusion at the second treatment facility, and a visual representation of the thrombus morphology, the estimated collateral blood flow, and an estimated quantity of brain tissue that will likely become irreversibly infarcted after the estimated transport time and/or the estimated treatment time;
• and
• a display device to display the time-based output data values as clinical decision support information including the visual representation;
• and
• a network interface to provide the time-based output data values to trigger transmission or storage.

An imaging system for evaluating a patient suffering from acute stroke at a first treatment facility and providing time-based decision support to determine if transportation to a second treatment facility to effect reperfusion treatment at the second treatment facility would be effective for the patient, comprising:

• an imaging system to receive patient brain electronic images obtained at the first treatment center;
• a decision support computing tool with a processor to:
• receive patient clinical information;
• generate a patient brain imaging profile using the patient brain scan electronic images and the patient clinical information, the imaging profile identifying a quantity and eloquence of brain tissue that is irreversibly infarcted, an estimated rate or quantity of patient brain tissue that likely will become irreversibly infarcted at a future time, a thrombus morphology associated with an estimate of a thrombus dissolving at the future time, and an estimated collateral blood flow;
• determine an estimated transport time to transfer the patient from the first treatment facility to the second treatment facility and an estimated treatment time for receiving reperfusion at the second treatment facility;
• and
• dynamically determining a patient assessment profile by:
• processing the patient clinical information, the patient brain imaging profile, the estimated transport time from the first treatment facility to the second treatment facility, and the estimated treatment time at the second treatment facility to generate input data values;
• dynamically deriving weighting factors as an assessment of importance or relevance of the input data values and assigning the weighting factors to the input data values;
• deriving as time-based output data values for the patient assessment profile using the input data values and the weighting factors, the output data values being a probability of an expert treatment decision for transferring the patient from the first treatment facility to the second treatment facility and providing the reperfusion at the second treatment facility, and a visual representation of the thrombus morphology, the estimated collateral blood flow, and an estimated quantity of brain tissue that will likely become irreversibly infarcted after the estimated transport time and/or the estimated treatment time;
• and
• an output device to output the time-based output data results as clinical decision support information to trigger display of the output data results on a display device, storage in a data storage device, or transmission for a transmitter.