U of U unveils state of the art stroke treatment rooms
Updated: 2/24 5:17 pm | Published: 2/22 6:03 pm
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - The University of Utah unveiled two emergency treatment rooms for stroke patients Friday. The rooms are touted as the first of their kind in the world.
They're designed to speed up treatment for stroke patients by 30 to 60 minutes.
Dr. Steve Stephens says minutes matter. "For every 30 minute delay or treatment results in a 10 percent decrease in the probability of a good outcome," he said.
One room is designed to hold the patient on a bed. Doctors will examine and diagnose in this room and will have the ability to wheel a powerful MRI around the patient from a second room.
The MRI uses magnets 100,000 times more powerful than the earths magnetic field to give real time information about when the stroke began, how much brain tissue is dead and how much can be saved.
The equipment in one location is key to speeding treatment and saving lives.
Most hospitals treat patients in three different rooms located hundreds of feet apart. The new design removes the time it would take to wheel a patient from room to room.
The University of Utah will open the equipment to patients in March.
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