University Hospital is the Canadian test site for ground-breaking technology in cardiac care - a machine designed to minimize the risk of stroke during heart surgery.
It's a small machine, but it could have a big impact on preventing complications during cardiac surgery.
Dr. John Murkin, a cardiac researcher at the Lawson Health Research Institute, has been testing the device.
Called a CerOx monitor, it tracks blood flow in the brain during surgery using more than just conventional infrared technology.
"This is a remarkable breakthrough. A sophisticated technology," Murkin says. "What this device has done is taken infrared light and added an ultrasound wave so we're using a high frequency sound waves that will penetrate the skull."
The device is used for people who are at higher risk for stroke.
Murkin explains, "Some patients - and it's difficult to identify who - in whom their blood flow to the brain doesn't autoregulate normally, and these are patients who may be at increased risk."
Sensors are placed on the patient's head, an ultrasound device transmits sound waves into the brain tissue and there's a laser light that's shining into the tissue that's analyzed. Blood flow is then monitored on a screen.
University Hospital is the first in Canada to test the device. The tests have been underway for two-and-a-half years, involving some 86 patients.
Murkin says "If we can reliably demonstrate that we are measuring brain blood flow continuously and non-invasively in a variety of patients, it will not just apply to cardiac surgery but other surgeries in which the brain is at risk."
