Supercomputer Can Predict Serious Brain Bleeds Before They Happen

While Perth is known for its vineyards, zoos, and scenery, there’s one other thing that puts the city on the map: the Pawsey supercomputing center. 

There, scientific minds have banded together to solve some of the world’s most complex problems, and now there’s been a breakthrough that could help save lives across the country. 

According to ABC, researchers have created the world’s first operational traumatic intracranial hypertension prediction algorithm, that can predict serious brain bleeds before they happen to patients. 

This super ability was developed from more than 40,000 hours of patient data from a group of 200 patients at the Royal Perth Hospital, Alfred Hospital, and Royal Melbourne Hospital, as per Royal Perth Hospital Head of Data Science, Shiv Meka. 

After trying out 20 different data models, Meka and his team decided to try one that could predict imminent brain bleeds—allowing medical staff to anticipate the event up to 20 minutes in advance so they could intervene. 

The Pawsey Setonix supercomputer—which recently ranked as the 15th most powerful worldwide—played a big role in the endeavor, as regular cloud storage would’ve cost researchers a sizeable amount of money.

There’s no doubt this algorithm could come in handy, considering approximately 2,000 people in Australia experience a severe traumatic brain injury per year. Often, medical staff in hospitals are caught off-guard by severe brain bleeds or swelling as there are few warning signs. 

By giving experts the extra time to intervene and administer help to patients, it could greatly increase the chances of survival for those in need, as “even a few minutes could be the difference between life and death.” 

[via ABC, cover image via Atthapon Raksthaput | Dreamstime.com]