In search of the stroke detector
by Robert McCrum from on (#29SQV)
Up to 50% of stroke diagnoses are inaccurate. What if a small biosensor could do the job precisely? Robert McCrum, who survived a 'brain attack' 22 years ago, traces one team's long journey to a breakthrough
Stroke, or "brain attack", is the third biggest killer in the western world, after cancer and heart failure. The life-changing effects associated with this simple, Anglo-Saxon word are readily explained: a stroke occurs when the blood supply to the brain is disrupted by a blood vessel either bursting or blocking, so that the part of the brain supplied by this blood vessel dies.
The brain is a much more complex organ than the heart. While strokes are a common feature of everyday life, precisely how and why they occur is far from straightforward.
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