New software offers hope to patients with brain injuries

DOCTORS are developing a new technique to improve the recovery and survival rates of up to 2,000 brain-injury patients every year.

A team at the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow have developed a computerised system that can predict the likelihood of a patient's condition deteriorating even before it happens.

Around 2,000 Scots suffer brain injuries each year from falls and accidents that are so severe they need specialist treatment in intensive care.

One common problem suffered by brain-injury patients is a drop in blood pressure, which can lead to slower recovery and in some cases permanent brain damage such as severe memory loss.

Currently medical staff monitor patients' blood pressure and react to changes in order to prevent complications from occurring.

But the new system, known as AVERT-IT, is designed to alert staff to subtle changes in the patient's blood that occur before a drop in blood pressure.

The system uses the patient's own health information, such as their age and details of the condition as well as data collected from their bedside monitoring equipment in the intensive care unit. This means doctors can treat the patient before they begin to deteriorate.

Ian Piper, from the hospital's Department of Clinical Physics and Bioengineering, said the sophisticated software would help staff to treat patients more effectively.

He added: "Whenever a patient has suffered a traumatic brain injury they are connected to lots of high-tech medical equipment. These machines collect reams of data, and this can be used to anticipate when a patient may take a turn for the worse.

"By finding out if a patient is likely to deteriorate, we can intervene and hopefully avert any adverse incidents.

"Specifically, we're trying to predict when a patient might suffer a fall in blood pressure because that's something this kind of patient is particularly prone to.

"A fall in blood pressure can then leave the patient more vulnerable to serious subsequent problems."

The system is being developed with £1.7m funding from the European Commission and involves hospitals across Scotland and Europe.

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon, said: "The AVERT-IT project has very real potential to help brain-injury patients at the most critical stage of their treatment, so I would like to congratulate staff on their hard work in securing this funding and wish them every success with this exciting initiative."

Source - Scotland On Sunday

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