Study Suggests Cone-Beam CT Imaging Improves Time to Treatment for ELVO

July 27, 2021—The Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery (SNIS) announced findings from a study showing that using novel cone-beam CT (CB-CT) technology to improve image quality for stroke assessment may reduce the time to thrombectomy treatment for patients with emergent large vessel occlusion ischemic strokes. The study was presented at the SNIS 18th annual meeting held July 26-30 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

In the prospective series, investigators noted that bypassing the CT scan, which a stroke patient would normally receive on arrival at a stroke center, in favor of a CB-CT available in the surgical room may help doctors shorten the time between stroke symptoms and stroke surgery.

SNIS noted that CB-CT is a variation on the standard CT scan. With CB-CT, the x-ray tube and detector panel use a cone-shaped x-ray beam and flat-panel detector. CT scanners use a fan-shaped x-ray beam and a single detector row.

According to SNIS, the study investigators followed 105 patients who received stroke surgery to find out how well the newest type of CB-CT scan was able to create a baseline image of the patients’ brains.

The investigators conducted four studies that reviewed the quality of three types of brain scan images and one type of technology that helps compensate for patient movement during scans to maintain a clear image. They found that the newest generation of CB-CT produces improved brain imaging that is of good diagnostic quality for stroke assessment in emergency settings.

Vitor Mendes Pereira, MD, lead Principal Investigator for this study and Director of Endovascular Research and Innovation at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, Canada, commented in the SNIS press release, “This is an important step toward a direct-to-angio approach for acute ischemic stroke thrombectomy.”

Nicole Cancelliere, MRT(R), a radiographer and research program manager at St. Michael’s Hospital, added, “This new generation of CB-CT technology has tremendous potential to improve patient care by shortening the time between the first stroke symptom and thrombectomy. Being able to quickly assess patients is one of the most important factors in connecting patients to appropriate care and moving them closer to a full recovery.”