
How does a brain scan help a brain surgeon save a life?
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A brain scan has been used to save the life of a patient who was in a coma after he was struck by a car.
The patient was an emergency room doctor from the state of Indiana, and was treated at a local hospital after the accident.
The hospital says he is in a “stable condition”.
Dr Mark Williams, who conducted the scan, says he has done so many brain scans in his career that he has a good memory.
“I am a trained neurosurgeon and I have done a lot of brain scans, and I think I have a good sense of how a brain works,” he told ABC News.
“When you look at a brain, what you’re really seeing is the neural circuitry and the way it’s connected, how it’s arranged, how the neurons are organised.”
Dr Williams says the scan showed that the brain was not “in the state that is expected to occur in a healthy brain”.
The doctor is confident the scan is safe for the patient, and says he wants to continue the work to find a cure for ALS.
“The risk of harm to the patient is low, and the benefits of this scan are great,” he said.
“It’s a life saving scan.”
The patient has been in a medically induced coma for two weeks.
The family of the patient are worried that the scan will cause harm to other people in the future.
“This was the worst thing I’ve ever seen happen,” the family said in a statement.
“We have been praying that this will be over soon, but unfortunately it will not be.
Our family will continue to pray for this patient’s speedy recovery and the safety of all of his loved ones.”
ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that can cause muscle weakness, memory loss, speech difficulties, muscle weakness and other neurological conditions.
It affects about one in every 100,000 people.
In 2016, more than 1,000 Australians died from ALS.
The US National Institutes of Health says the condition affects up to one in 20 people and has increased to 1 in 5,000.