Northwestern deploys new mobile stroke unit equipped with 32-slice CT scanner

Northwestern Medicine has upgraded its mobile stroke unit, equipping it with a new 32-slice CT scanner to better serve the community. 

The Chicago-based organization deployed its first mobile stroke unit (MSU) in 2017; eight years later Northwestern obtained DNV stroke certification, which was developed to advance patient safety and hold organizations to the highest diagnostic standards. Following that certification, Northwestern deployed a new custom-designed MSU to provide stroke care in 20 nearby suburban communities. 

The new unit comes equipped with enhanced safety features, smaller dimensions that make it easier to navigate narrow roadways, and a new 32-slice CT scanner that can be used in the field enroute to the hospital. The previous scanner was a 16-slice system. 

“Having a 32-slice CT scanner on board is a game-changer because it allows for an immediate and accurate diagnosis in the field,” Harish Shownkeen, MD, medical director of the Stroke and Neurointerventional Surgery Programs at Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital, said in a statement. “Once we’ve determined the type of stroke a patient is experiencing – whether it’s an ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke – then we can administer life-saving treatment, all before reaching the hospital.” 

The MSU significantly reduces the time from dispatch to thrombolytic therapy for stroke patients; it takes an average of 47 minutes from dispatch to treatment for individuals transported via the MSU compared to 83 minutes for those who are not. In stroke scenarios, this time is critical and can have a significant impact on outcomes.  

“With the MSU, we are getting a more than 35-minute head start by essentially bringing the emergency room to the patient,” Shownkeen noted. “Patients who are treated early are more likely to go home from the hospital instead of to a nursing home or rehabilitation facility.” 

The MSU operates from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., 365 days a year, and covers 138 square miles. Hundreds of patients have been treated in the unit, with more than 500 receiving critical care in it in 2025 alone. 

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