Q&A: Open-Motion offers rapid, reliable detection of large vessel occlusion stroke


Q&A: Open-Motion offers rapid, reliable detection of large vessel occlusion stroke

Large vessel occlusion-type strokes are urgent enough that a single clinical scale utilized for detection in a pre-hospital setting may lead to misdiagnosis that endangers the patient, according to new research.

Open-Motion 3.0, a mobile evaluation device manufactured by Openwater, quickly and easily detected large vessel occlusions in a study published in the Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases.

The device correctly identified 79% of patients who had large vessel occlusions (LVO) while correctly excluding 84% of those patients who did not, outperforming stroke scales used prior to arrival at the hospital.

Healio spoke to Christopher G. Favilla, MD, assistant professor of neurology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and lead author of the study, to learn more about OpenMotion and its application in rapid stroke detection.

Healio: What is the Open-Motion 3.0 device, how does it detect LVOs, and how is that better than current detection techniques?

Favilla: Open-Motion is a diagnostic device and platform that uses low intensity near-infrared light to non-invasively measure blood flow and volume in tissue. Changes in the absorption and scattering of this light can identify abnormalities in anterior circulation of the brain. Current clinical examination-based assessments are not sufficiently sensitive for LVO. Too often, patients are brought to hospitals that are not equipped to perform the endovascular procedure used to most effectively treat LVO stroke. Open-Motion is a portable device that could be used in the field to improve prehospital stroke triage to ensure patients are taken to the hospital that can best treat them.

Healio: What makes LVO strokes more urgent than other types of stroke?

Favilla: If untreated, LVO result in the largest and most disabling strokes for patients. A large vessel occlusion refers to a blockage in a major artery in the base of the brain which cuts off critical blood flow and leads to extensive brain injury if not treated quickly. Fortunately, endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) is a revolutionary treatment opportunity for this patient population that dramatically increases the likelihood of a favorable outcome.

However, approximately 2 million neurons die every minute as the stroke evolves, and the benefits of EVT are time dependent. Rapid identification and triage are critical in ensuring that patients can reduce treatment times and thereby maximize the benefit of EVT.

Healio: How does the OpenMotion device cut down on diagnostic times and head off the possibility of false negatives?

Favilla: Only about 10 percent of hospitals can perform endovascular thrombectomy. This leads to the majority of patients with an LVO presenting to the emergency department of a hospital that is unable to provide the care they need. After the occlusion is identified on a scan, the patients require transfer to an endovascular-capable hospital, which unfortunately can take hours and further delay treatment.

OpenMotion device provides the opportunity to quickly and easily detect an LVO. If EMS providers could harness this technology in the back of the ambulance, they could reduce stroke treatment times by bypassing the nearest hospital and driving directly to an endovascular-capable hospital.

Minimizing false negatives is key to maximizing the impact of this diagnostic approach and ensuring patients receive the appropriate care. It is also important to consider the impact of false positives, given the implications for EMS workflow and emergency department patient volumes. Minimizing these false positives ensures that critical resources are allocated to the patients most in need. The OpenMotion device provides the opportunity to titrate the threshold, such that the balance of false negatives and false positives can be optimized.

Healio: Based on existing study data, what form would an independent validation take?

Favilla: We are preparing for a multicenter validation study in which patients with suspected stroke will complete an OpenMotion scan during the clinical stroke alert workflow. By enrolling a broad population of patients from multiple centers, we will not only provide an opportunity to validate the device performance by comparing the OpenMotion results with gold standard clinical neurovascular imaging.

We expect enrollment to begin before the end of 2025 and complete enrollment before the end of 2027.

Healio: Would the device solely be used for EMS personnel, or would it have applications in the home or the clinic?

Favilla: Our current approach focuses on EMS utilization. One could imagine potential use in the home setting, but that would require an entirely different scientific approach. Other environments, such as nursing homes or long-term care facilities, could similarly be a consideration in future work.

Healio: Could OpenMotion be applied to other forms of stroke that would or would not be addressed by EVT?

Favilla: The current algorithm is designed to differentiate LVO, but ongoing work is evaluating the potential to differentiate hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke. It is too early to know, but we will certainly report findings in that space as soon as they become available. There are several potential future applications, including a range of neurologic and cardiac disease states in which optimizing brain perfusion is a pillar of clinical care.

Researchers using Openwater monitor report accurate detection of large vessel occlusion in suspected stroke. https://www.einpresswire.com/article/810706727/researchers-using-openwater-monitor-report-accurate-detection-of-large-vessel-occlusion-in-suspected-stroke. Published May 8, 2025. Accessed May 22, 2025.

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