iSchemaView's Rapid Platform Approved in Canada

August 16, 2018—iSchemaView announced it has received final approval in Canada for the use of the Rapid cerebrovascular imaging analysis platform. The Rapid platform is designed to provide physicians with fast, fully automated, and easy-to-interpret imaging to facilitate clinical decision-making for cerebrovascular disease, such as stroke.

According to iSchemaView, the Rapid neuroimaging platform creates high-quality images from noncontrast CT, CTA, CT perfusion, and MRI diffusion and perfusion studies. The software provides an interpretable real-time view of brain perfusion, allowing physicians to determine lesion volumes for a variety of different thresholds.

Frank Silver, MD, commented in the company's announcement, “Our research use of Rapid has shown that its speed and accuracy are very helpful in the management of patients with acute stroke. Rapid plays an important role in selecting which patients should be urgently transferred to regional stroke centers for endovascular therapy.” Dr. Silver is Medical Director, Toronto West Stroke Network; Medical Director of the Ontario Telestroke Program; and Professor of Neurology at the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario.

The company noted that the Rapid platform was used as the exclusive imaging tool to select patients in two landmark stroke trials (DAWN and DEFUSE 3) that were published recently in The New England Journal of Medicine. Results of these studies helped change the American Heart Association and Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation stroke guidelines to include CT perfusion and MRI perfusion.

The company also noted that the Rapid ASPECTS (Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score) is approved for use in Canada to assist clinicians in assessing early signs of brain ischemia in stroke. Rapid ASPECTS automatically generates a standardized score based on clinically validated machine-learning algorithms, which enables physicians to communicate about the extent of a patient’s ischemic changes and determine eligibility for thrombectomy. Rapid ASPECTS provides clear visualization of the brain so that clinicians can better scrutinize each region and confirm the automated score. In May, iSchemaView launched Rapid ASPECTS in Europe.