NY: A new smartphone app can help people who have race o Their family members and caregivers recognize common stroke symptoms in real time, prompting them to quickly call healthcare providers.
Called FAST.AIthe app could be as accurate in diagnosing a stroke as a neurologist, potentially minimizing the long-term effects of a stroke and improving the chances of a full recovery, preliminary research suggests.
FAST.AI is a fully automated smartphone application for severe stroke detection that uses machine learning algorithms to recognize facial asymmetry (sagging facial muscles), arm weakness, and changes in speech, all Common symptoms of strokes.
The smartphone app uses a patient’s facial video to examine 68 facial landmarks; sensors that measure the movement and orientation of the arm; and voice recordings detect changes in speech. The information from each test was sent to a database server for analysis.
“The first results confirm that the app reliably identified acute stroke symptoms as accurately as a neurologist, and will help improve the app’s accuracy in detecting signs and symptoms of stroke,” said the study author. Radoslav I. Raychevclinical professor of neurology and vascular neurologist at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Researchers validated the performance of FAST.AI by evaluating nearly 270 patients diagnosed with acute stroke within 72 hours of hospital admission at four major metropolitan stroke centers from July 2021 to July 2022.
Neurologists who examined the patients tested the app and then compared the FAST.AI results with their clinical impressions. The analysis found that the smartphone app accurately detected stroke-associated facial asymmetry in nearly 100 percent of patients. The app accurately detected arm weakness in more than two-thirds of cases.
While the slurred speech module still needs to be fully validated and tested, preliminary analyzes confirmed that it can reliably detect slurred speech, according to the researchers.
One limitation of the study is that neurologists (not individuals, family members, or caregivers) performed the assessments and taught patients how to use the app.
The study findings will be presented at the American Stroke Association International Stroke Conference 2023 in DallasUnited States, from February 8 to 10.
