The University of Tennessee in Memphis has launched a mobile stroke unit that uses Siemens Healthcare's Scope CT scanner.
The mobile stroke unit allows physicians to diagnose stroke and begin treatment within the critical "first hour" and quickly select patients for endovascular interventions and neurosurgery, bypassing the emergency department.
The unit will serve a county with a stroke rate per 100,000 individuals that is 37% higher than the U.S. average, according to the University of Tennessee. It is funded through a $3 million public-private collaboration that will allow it to operate for up to three years at 12 hours a day, one week on and one week off, beginning in late April.
The program will be run by University Clinical Health, a subsidiary of the university's college of medicine.
