Hospital Authority, University of Hong Kong team up for big data project to help treat stroke victims
The project, which began last August, involves sharing anonymous data of 7,000 patients admitted to public hospitals in 2016
The Hospital Authority has teamed up with University of Hong Kong scientists on a pioneering big data analysis project that uses patient records to help doctors better predict severe strokes and prioritise treatment, it was revealed on Tuesday.
The project, which began last August, involves sharing the anonymous data of 7,000 patients admitted to public hospitals in 2016.
One of the leaders of the project, Dr Gilberto Leung Ka-kit, a professor with the university’s Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, said a quick diagnosis was crucial for victims of acute ischemic stroke because the “golden window” for treatment is six hours.
There are 7,000 acute ischemic strokes every year in the city, including 900 caused by large vessel occlusion (LVO), the most severe form of acute ischemic stroke. The death rate of patients with LVO within 30 days is 40 per cent.
To speed up assessment and help doctors decide which patients to treat first, researchers analysed patient data, including Computed Tomography (CT) brain scan images provided by the Hospital Authority, to build an assessment model.