In the world of stroke recovery and prevention, we live by a singular, urgent truth: time is brain. Every minute lost after a stroke onset results in the irreversible death of millions of neurons. While advancements in treatment have been significant, a critical bottleneck has always been the speed of diagnosis and differentiation between stroke types (ischemic or haemorrhagic), which require entirely different and often opposing, treatments.
Traditional diagnostic tools, the CT and MRI scanners, are bulky, expensive and require a patient to be moved to a specific location within a hospital, a process that inherently introduces delays. This is where a remarkable new piece of technology offers a powerful glimmer of hope: the emu portable brain scanner. These scanners are non-invasive devices that use ultra-high frequency radiofrequency (RF) scanning technology, combined with advanced AI-based algorithms, to assist in point-of-care stroke diagnosis.
Developed by the innovative tech company EMVision, the ‘emu’ (a clever acronym and a nod to the fast Australian bird, short for ‘electromagnetic unit’) is designed to bring the diagnostic power directly to the patient’s bedside. The tech uses safe, ultra-high frequency radio signals, similar to how a mobile phone communicates, to quickly image the brain. There is no ionizing radiation, making it safe for repeated use. The device itself is a lightweight, helmet-like apparatus that can be wheeled into an ambulance, a patient’s room, or an ICU, fundamentally changing the logistics of emergency stroke diagnosis.
The real brilliance of the emu lies in its ability to rapidly perform two crucial tasks: first, detecting the presence of a stroke, and second, classifying its type. In an emergency scenario, this information is vital. A patient with a blockage needs clot-busting medication or mechanical thrombectomy, while a patient with a bleed needs immediate stabilisation and often surgery. Administering the wrong treatment is catastrophic. The emu aims to provide this critical differential diagnosis within minutes, potentially cutting hours off the current standard of care timeline.
The company has started a pivotal trial earlier this year across several sites in the US and Australia to validate the device’s performance against traditional imaging methods and to secure necessary regulatory approvals. While still an investigational device, the potential for its impact is pretty staggering. It promises to democratise stroke diagnostics, making high-level emergency care accessible to patients in rural and regional areas, or those too unstable to be moved to a large imaging suite.
