Brain ultrasound – could this be possible in the future?

A recent article in New Scientist points to a possibility of an amazing technique that will be able to achieve diagnostics in medicine that has not been able to be achieved before – a brain ultrasound!

In this very brief article, the Llius Guasch, in Imperial College in London, have developed a way of doing a ultrasound of a brain.

This has been impossible in past because ultrasound can not pass through bone, therefore can not get through the skull to be able to image the brain.  However, if this can be done, the result is amazing, meaning:

• A damaged blood vessel could be seen during a stroke and appropriate treatment administered immediately, either saving a live or reducing the damage

At present, damage due to a stroke can only be seen with a CT scan or MRI, which often doesn’t show until after the stroke has already occurred, which is too late.  This would be a game changer in the management of strokes.