Early detection of stroke is extremely necessary as millions of brain cells begin to die as soon as a stroke occurs. Every second is crucial as the patient’s situation can worsen up to the extent of death within a few hours of stroke if appropriate treatment isn’t provided.
While several treatment options are available for stroke, only CT and MRI scans are available for stroke detection, which are time-consuming. To tackle the issue of early stroke detection, a startup named Neurobit has developed Neurospeed—glasses that can detect stroke in under one minute.
Let’s know more about Neurospeed and Neurobit in this article.
Neurospeed: Glasses that can detect stroke
Neurospeed is a cranial nerve examination device that can detect strokes caused by blood clots in the brain by reading eyeball movement. It’s in the form of goggles or glasses that are portable and easy to wear. Developed by Neurobit in 2017, Neurospeed is currently under research and development.
Vertigo, fatigue and dizziness are early symptoms of stroke that patients visit the emergency room with. Going through CT and MRI scans and waiting for their reports waste the precious time those patients have in hand. Here’s where Neurospeed has an upper hand. It can be used in emergency rooms, hospitals and even in an ambulance to detect stroke and begin the treatment as early as possible.
How does Neurospeed work?
Stroke not only affects the physical mobility of a person, but it also affects eye movement. Infrared cameras present in Neurospeed glasses view and measure and record eye movements through a reflected light source.
The device then uses those movements to measure the stability of a patient’s vision, checks rapid head rotation and looks for any signs of skew deviation—an abnormality when eyeballs are not completely aligned when moving.
Analysing these involuntary eye movements, Neurospeed can determine whether or not the patient is exhibiting symptoms of stroke within a minute.
“This process can sense 90% of stroke-related abnormalities in the brain. The product has already received positive feedback from worldwide physicians. Neurobit is expected to be a pioneer in dynamic eye imaging for screening stroke and other brain diseases,” said Dr. Travis Yang, Chief Executive, Neurobit, in a statement.
About Neurobit
Neurobit is a Taiwan-based next-gen healthtech startup that creates and manufactures neuro-otological diagnostic systems. It was founded by a group of students—Travis Yang, Jim Huang, Ching-Fu Wang, and Roger Chen—at National Taiwan University in 2016. Since then, they have continuously been working on their hardware and software solutions to deliver a comprehensive neuro-functional digital diagnostic system.
They are on a mission to address unconventional neuro-clinical needs and bring cutting-edge technology to the medical community in the hopes to make the life of healthcare professionals easier all around the world.
Neurobit has raised $3.6 Mn in funding from BE Health Ventures and Taipei Medical University in its seed round in 2021. The National Development Fund of Taiwan Government and ITIC: Industrial Technology Investment Corporation are its other investors.
The startup is utilising its funding for product development and business expansion. It plans to get FDA clearance in the US and Taiwan for its product in near future.
Parting words
It’s unclear what Neurobit can or can’t perform at this time as it’s still an ongoing project. However, considering the numerous positive reviews it has received, there is a high chance it can be used for emergency stroke detection in the coming years. We can only wait to see what innovation it brings to the healthcare industry.
