Detecting a Stroke-Affected Region in the Brain by Scanning with Low-Intensity Electromagnetic Waves in the Radio Frequency/Microwave Band

There is a compelling need for a new form of head scanner to diagnose whether a patient is experiencing a stroke. Crucially, the scanner must be quickly and safely deployable at the site of the emergency to reduce the time between a diagnosis and treatment being commenced. That will help to improve the long-term outlook for many patients, which in turn will help to reduce the high cost of stroke to national economies. This paper describes a novel scanning method that utilises low-intensity electromagnetic waves in the radio frequency/microwave band to detect a stroke-affected region in the brain. This method has the potential to be low cost, portable, and widely deployable, and it is intrinsically safe for the patient and operator. It requires no specialist shielding or power supplies and, hence, can be rapidly deployed at the site of the emergency. That could be at the patient’s bedside within a hospital, at the patient’s home or place of work, or in a community setting such as a GP surgery or a nursing home. Results are presented from an extensive programme of scans of inanimate test subjects that are materially valid representations of a human head. These results confirm that the scanning method is indeed capable of detecting a stroke-affected region in these subjects. The significance of these results is discussed, as well as ways in which the efficacy of the scanning methodology could be further improved.