Thanks Dazdog for the share! Here is a copy paste of some of the...

Thanks Dazdog for the share! Here is a copy paste of some of the article for those who can’t access. This is an amazing accomplishment to say the least. Great job team EMV. Beating out CSL who are the third largest company on the asx, insane!

Portable brain imaging company wins healthcare award

EM Vision named the top innovator in the health category in the 2023 AFR BOSS Most Innovative Companies list.

A company that has set itself the task of drastically reducing the number of people who die or become disabled from stroke has been named the top innovator in the health category in the 2023 AFR BOSS Most Innovative Companies list.

Brisbane-based EMVision Medical Devices has developed a portable brain imaging device, which obviates the need to get patients who are feared to have suffered a stroke to a radiology department, which can be a time-consuming exercise even if the patient is already in the hospital.


Scott Kirkland with one of EM Vision’s portable imaging devices. Rhett Wyman

If the patient is at home, the chances of early diagnosis and hence treatment are even lower.

When it comes to stroke, time is of the essence. “Every minute counts. A few hours can be the difference between lifelong disability or a normal life effectively,” says Scott Kirkland, chief executive and co-founder of EMVision.

And stroke is a big killer.

Stiff competition
One in four adults have a stroke in their lifetime. It’s the leading cause of disability and death worldwide, notes Kirkland. In health and economic terms, there are big savings to be gained from early diagnosis.

EMVision’s portable brain imaging device enabled the Sydney-based company to fend off competition from global biotechnology company CSL, ranked second, and My Emergency Doctor, placed third.

Kirkland expects to be marketing the imaging device, which is the shape of a helmet, about the size of an ultrasound system and can be wheeled to a patient’s bedside, in 2024-25 after studies are completed.

Those studies are currently underway in several states. The device should be able to save even more lives in regional areas, which are a long way from radiology departments. Kirkland says images can be taken in regional hospitals and sent via telehealth to a stroke specialist who will be able to guide decision-making and treatment.

An even smaller model of the device, which is originally the brainchild of researchers at the University of Queensland, is designed to be put in road and air ambulances. Trials will begin next year.

Results from a mobile stroke unit in Melbourne are encouraging. Kirkland says a stroke truck in the Victorian capital is deployed to suspected stroke victims who live within a 40-kilometre radius of Royal Melbourne Hospital.

Data shows that the truck is able to diagnose and treat a third of patients it visits within the first critical hour of suffering a stroke, against 3 per cent of patients who are attended to by an ambulance.

Power of data
“This will make it much more accessible and scalable, particularly in regional areas. The trucks are great. They’re just too expensive to be everywhere,” Kirkland says.