For stroke victims, promising new technologies

According to the American Heart Association, the chance of having a stroke doubles for each decade of life after age 55.

Strokes affect a lot of people. It's a common medical complication among the elderly, and surprisingly prevalent among those younger than 65 years of age, too.

Stroke prevention runs the gamut from diet and exercise to pharmaceutical solutions, but it's advancements in medical technology that are helping in emergency situations -- as well as afterward, to minimize unavoidable damage.

SmartPlanet's crack team of videographers has been visiting local hospitals and universities in California to find out what the future of stroke technology holds. What they've found is an exciting new technology that could save a life and two more that could improve its quality once the damage is done.

In our latest video, we interview Flavio Oliveira, a neuroscientist at the University of California Berkeley, who is working on a technique called "Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation" to better understand how the brain works:

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Meanwhile, a novel, corkscrew-shaped device called the "Mercy Retriever" promises to bust blood clots in large arteries that drugs can't handle. Wade Smith, director of neurovascular service at the University of California San Francisco, tells us more:

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Finally, we visit the University of California Santa Cruz, where professor Jacob Rosen is working on wearable robots to help stroke victims during physical therapy and rehabilitation:

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With these technologies, the future looks a little bit brighter for stroke patients.

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com