IIT Mandi develops device to detect ischemic stroke

The low-cost diagnostic technique will help in precisely detecting ischemic stroke and can be used in rural, poor and remote areas for early diagnosis.

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi in collaboration with the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) Chandigarh have proposed and developed a simple, portable and cost-effective device to detect and diagnose stroke caused by impaired blood flow to the brain.  

What is ischemic stroke? 

Ischemic stroke is caused by the insufficient or interrupted blood supply to part of the brain and affects one of every 500 Indians every year. Surveys have shown that around 10 per cent to 15 per cent of all strokes affect people below 40 years of age. 

The efficient management and treatment of stroke depend upon early identification and diagnosis. Currently, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computer tomography (CT) techniques are considered the gold standard for ischemic stroke detection. While these are indeed reliable methods, they require considerable infrastructure and high cost, and are inaccessible to many communities in India – there is only one MRI service for every one million people in the country.  

Explaining the research, Shubhajit Roy Chowdhury, associate professor, IIT Mandi, said, “We are working towards finding a low-cost diagnostic technique to precisely detect ischemic stroke at the point of care so that such tests can be used in rural, poor and remote areas. Our team has designed and developed a small wearable device that makes use of Near Infrared Spectroscopy to detect ischemic stroke.” 

He said, “In this device, a near-infrared light emitting diode (NIRS LED) emits light in the range of 650 nm to 950 nm. This light interacts with the coloured components of the blood such as haemoglobin and provides information on blood characteristics such as regional oxygen saturation, regional oxygen consumption and regional blood volume index.” 

The IIT Mandi team performed studies measuring the bio-markers under ischemic conditions at the forearm and at the frontal lobe of the brain. The researchers also validated their detector prototype through experimental occlusion of the forearm and evoked ischemic stroke at the frontal lobe, and found excellent diagnostic potential. 

Dalchand Ahirwar, research scholar, IIT Mandi, said, “A combined matrix of this information reflects the temporal dynamics of blood haemoglobin, which can help in identifying impaired or abnormal blood flow conditions at a local tissue. The biomarkers that we have used to study ischemic conditions are oxygen saturation, regional oxygen consumption and regional blood volume index that could better predict ischemic conditions than other techniques.” 

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