By Sarah de Crescenzo / Daily Republic

FAIRFIELD -- Time is brain, the saying goes among stroke neurologists.

Unfortunately, a lack of those specialized medical personnel in Solano County regularly sends patients suffering acute strokes -- for whom even a short delay can mean permanent brain damage -- out of county for diagnosis and treatment.

An unexpected visitor, however, will soon be greeting stroke victims at their bedside when they enter NorthBay Healthcare emergency departments in Fairfield and Vacaville -- a robot.

RP-7, as the gunmetal-hued, mobile, wireless machine is called, is the keystone in a partnership between NorthBay and Mercy Neurological Institute of Greater Sacramento that remotely links neurological specialists in Sacramento with NorthBay's emergency department physicians.

The robot wheeled across the linoleum Thursday and parked itself next to a hospital bed set up in the lobby of NorthBay Medical Center for a demonstration of the consultations that will soon be taking place in the hospital's emergency department.

Mercy's Dr. Alan Shatzel, his face clearly visible on the screen mounted at the top of the robot, conducted a simulation of the tests he would do to diagnose and treat a stroke victim with mock-patient Fairfield Councilwoman Catherine Moy in collaboration with Dr. Seth Kaufman, a NorthBay physician.

Kathy Richerson, vice president and chief nursing officer for NorthBay, said the partnership would benefit patients in two ways.

The access to off-site neurological knowledge will reduce the need to transfer acute stroke patients to other hospitals for diagnosis and treatment, she said.

The tele-medicine, as the program is categorized, will also allow treatment to begin more rapidly.

In practice drills using the robots, NorthBay's service line director for the heart and vascular center, Diana Sullivan, said the time between a patient entering the hospital doors and receiving medicine to burst the clot trapping blood from flowing freely in their brain had been reduced to less than an hour.

"Without fast, effective treatment there can be severe consequences," Sullivan said.

According to the American Heart Association, stroke is a leading cause of serious, long-term disability in the United States, and the third-largest cause of death.

Kaufman said the introduction of the robot into the emergency department has been welcomed by staff.

"The key is he's providing a service we don't have here or in the county at all," he said. "We need to have him in our department to make these decisions."

To decide the right course of action, the specialists in Sacramento are equipped with a video camera, microphone, joystick and specialized software at their computer workstation.

The RP-7 is maneuvered remotely, allowing it to roam untethered through the hospital, putting offsite physicians face-to-face, or face-to-screen, at least, with patients, their families and hospital staff.

Each year, approximately 350 patients suffering from acute stroke are seen in the two NorthBay emergency departments in Solano County, estimated NorthBay Heathcare Group President Deborah Sugiyama.

Kaufman said that the introduction of the new technology into the emergency department will not delay the diagnosis process.

"The treatment is so time dependent that it can't slow us down," he said. "Except for the brief exams I'll do, it's like he's sitting in the room with (the patient)."

Reach Sarah de Crescenzo at 427-6935 or sarahdc@dailyrepublic.net.