A team of researchers from the Keck School of Medicine of USC and California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have developed a device that could potentially measure a person’s stroke risk in a cost-effective and noninvasive way, akin to a cardiac stress test. If validated through further tests, the device could transform stroke care, making early detection of increased risk a standard part of medical exams around the world.

Strokes are the leading cause of neurological disability. Close to 90% of them are caused by the reduction or blockage of blood flow to a part of the brain, leading to the death of brain cells. Currently, there is no widely accessible way to screen patients for physical signs that a stroke is likely to occur. Health care providers rely largely on indirect markers of stroke risk, such as details about a patient’s lifestyle and family history.

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