SAN DIEGO, March 17 (UPI) -- A fast and cheap blood test developed in San Diego, Calif., could help doctors tell when a patient has a stroke, New Scientist magazine reported Wednesday.
Over 80 percent of strokes are caused by blood clots blocking brain arteries while others by a ruptured blood vessel. Strokes almost always cause either death or permanent brain damage.
Now diagnostics company Biosite is developing a test that would involve putting a few drops of blood into a cartridge and placing it in a small portable machine. Results are obtained within 15 minutes.
The test works by detecting a set of six brain proteins released into the blood during strokes.
The test is three times as sensitive as CT scans for diagnosing strokes caused by clots.
