Valley Baptist Health System uses AI in stroke treatment

HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Valley Baptist Health System's integration of artificial intelligence into healthcare is advancing stroke treatment in the Rio Grande Valley.

Under the leadership of Dr. Ameer Hassan, Head of the Neuroscience Department, the facility has leveraged AI technology developed by Viz.ai to transform stroke care delivery.

Valley Baptist has utilized AI to improve diagnostic accuracy and reduce response times for large vessel occlusion strokes, which are particularly severe and carry a high risk of long-term disability.

The AI system analyzes CT angiograms to detect LVOs and instantly notifies all relevant team members, facilitating swift and coordinated care.

"We were the first comprehensive stroke center to have both our hub and the spoke be connected with artificial intelligence that would basically screen the CAT scans before a radiologist even lays eyes on it," said Hassan. "Then it pushes an alert that tells the endovascular team hey there's a patient with an occlusion at XYZ referral hospital or downstairs in the emergency room."

The use of AI has allowed patients to get screened quickly, helped immediately and reduced their hospital stay.

"We've seen that we've decreased the length of stay, we continue to prove outcomes, we continue to decrease the door in door out, so when a patient arrives let's say at Valley Baptist Brownsville they get screened quickly and then they're out of that hospital already on the way to Valley Baptist Harlingen to get their treatment," said Hassan. "We were able to cut that time in half by implementing artificial intelligence."

Valley Baptist initially implemented AI in 2018 and was the first in the nation to do so.