GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — When it comes to treating a stroke, time is crucial.
"Every minute we delay stroke care, you know, hundreds of millions, of billions of brain cells are lost.", Dr. Justin Singer is the medical director of Vascular Neurosurgery at Spectrum Health.
He is on the front lines when it comes to treating stroke patients, "Frequently we are able to suck out blood clots and we can see them with our eyes afterwards. It's something tangible, like that was causing the problem, I took it out. It is so gratifying and invigorating to know that we're able to do this."
Spectrum Health recently unveiled new technology that will help patients get stroke treatment faster, even in the most remote communities. The Corindus CorPath GRX is that new addition to the hospital's Neurovascular Center.
Spectrum Health is the first hospital in Michigan to have this new robotic technology, which allows neurosurgeons like Dr. Singer to not only be more precise but also perform surgeries remotely in the future, "Having a doctor, let's say, stationed here in Grand Rapids, performing procedures, let's say in Big Rapids hospital, if someone were to come in with a stroke."
That would not only get stroke patients faster care but also expand the level of care to rural areas, "By being able to have patients stay local in their community hospital [and] have this high level care performed. Rather than for example, now they have a stroke, they have to be flown, in some instances, you know, two to three hours down here to have the procedure."
And because of the COVID-19 pandemic, that need for stroke care could grow.
A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that the risk of stroke is twice as high for COVID-19 patients, "So every time someone does come in with a stroke, without a great explanation, and they have a history of COVID, of course, our radar goes up as to, you know, what's the association here?"
Spectrum Health is still about 3 years away from performing the remote surgeries, but Dr. Singer says having technology like Corindus CorPath GRX allows Spectrum Health to continue their research trials which also helps attract the best neuroscientists.
Steve Fields and his wife Susan played a large role in securing the robot technology for Spectrum Health, "We do have some of the best stroke doctors in the world right here at Spectrum. And we'd like them to stay here, as well as attract new talent."
Their funding helped ease the pain of losing Susan's brother, Larry Lorenz to a stroke several years ago, "She was very, very close to her brother. He lived maybe 100 yards from us. And they did stuff together every day after his retirement. And it was a devastating impact on our entire family when he passed away."
Thanks to the Fields continued support, Dr. Singer says advancements in stroke care are able to be made right here in Grand Rapids, "We see this technology becoming more integral to our procedures, as time goes on, helping us perform them more precisely, and more carefully." And in more places throughout West Michigan.
The Fields hold a golf outing every year to help support advancements in stroke research and technology. If you'd like to help, sign up to participate in their Stroke Reduction Golf Classic being held this Monday, May 23 at Thousand Oaks Golf Course.
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.