Throughout history advancements in technology have played a significant role in how we live our lives. It has continuously aided in healthcare breakthroughs and holds significant potential for the future. Researchers at Sunnybrook are using emerging artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to advance the diagnosis, treatments and outcomes of some of the world’s most debilitating diseases, like stroke.
Stroke is a medical emergency resulting in a sudden loss of brain function. Most strokes, also known as ischemic strokes, are caused by an interference with blood flow to the brain, due to a clot, narrowing of a blood vessel or bleeding. In Ontario, there is one new stroke victim every 30 minutes. Dr. Bradley MacIntosh, senior scientist in the Hurvitz Brain Sciences Research Program and member of the Dr. Sandra Black Centre for Brain Resilience & Recovery at Sunnybrook Research Institute (SRI), and his lab are using deep-learning AI tools to support acute stroke imaging and aid in the treatment of patients suffering the deadliest types of stroke.
Although ischemic stroke makes up the majority of cases, an intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), or brain bleed, is another form of stroke and occurs by a spontaneous artery rupture. Traumatic brain injury can also result in a brain bleed. ICH is the deadliest types of stroke, accounting for one in six acute strokes.
Timely diagnosis and treatment play a critical role in stroke patient outcomes and in order to provide care for patients suffering from a brain bleed, clinicians need to know the size of the bleed and where it is located. The MacIntosh lab has built an AI tool called VIOLA to analyze, detect, and outline locations of hemorrhages visible on computed tomography (CT) scans of patients who have had a stroke. The VIOLA tool searches CT scans and automates these measurements, saving time and potentially improving patient outcomes.
The VIOLA tool can scan CT images and highlight potential brain bleeds in a matter of seconds, assisting clinicians in determining timelier diagnoses and treatments.
“The VIOLA tool can provide clinicians with an accurate analysis and measurement of a brain bleed, enabling faster care and ultimately increasing the likelihood of recovery for stroke patients,” explains Dr. MacIntosh. “The tool also has the potential to create automated and standardized reports, which can assist clinicians in delivering stroke care.”
The VIOLA tool was developed by a collaborative team led by Dr. MacIntosh and researchers at the Computational Radiology and Artificial Intelligence unit at Oslo University Hospital in Norway. The tool is currently undergoing clinical evaluation at Oslo University Hospital, with international collaborators in Sweden and the United States serving as stroke centres for external validation. For the next phase of his research, Dr. MacIntosh hopes to implement the updated version of the VIOLA tool at Sunnybrook. While VIOLA continues to undergo validation, Dr. MacIntosh is using Sunnybrook stroke images to pursue and study new and complimentary AI radiology tools.
“ICH is the deadliest type of stroke and can have devastating, lasting impacts on a survivor’s brain function and physical ability,” adds Dr. MacIntosh. “Stroke researchers are making big progress. There were two landmark clinical trials for ICH in the last year. We created VIOLA with the hope of jumpstarting more ICH research to advance future care for stroke patients.”
