An interactive, visually-oriented computer-assisted aspects scoring system for acute stroke care

Non-contrast CT (NCCT) imaging plays an important role in the diagnosis and prognosis of acute stroke. Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) is the only FDA approved treatment for ischemic strokes. Determining whether or not to administer tPA based on NCCT within a short time frame is a challenging task. We have developed a computer-assisted ASPECTS scoring system, built upon our previous stand-alone, automated scoring system, with added components that allow a synergistic physician-computer interpretation. Our system centers on two innovative ideas: (1) allowing doctors to make necessary interventions at critical points to achieve physicisn-computer joint decision making, and (2) visually oriented interaction that adapts to a physician's intuitive way of information processing when reading medical images. The preliminary results are very promising. The next step of our research is to evaluate the effect based on a large data set on scoring accuracy as well as productivity in a stroke center.