A Wellington-based med-tech company has developed a portable brain scanner that can help diagnose strokes within minutes.

Wellumio’s new neuroimaging device – Axana – enables rapid, point-of-care detection of strokes.

With stroke diagnosis, speed is critical. Yet less than 5% of stroke patients receive treatment within the critical ‘golden hour,’ when the chance of disability-free survival is highest. So improving access to fast, accurate diagnostic tools is key to enhancing diagnosis, treatment and outcomes.

Axana delivers gold-standard MRI-based diagnostics in a compact, 50kg device mounted on castors.

Being portble means direct brain imaging can happen in emergency rooms, rural hospitals and mobile units, cutting 1-2 hours from diagnosis-to-treatment time.

The pioneer of stroke diagnostics

Dr Shieak Tzeng, co-founder and CEO of Wellumio, says that with one in four people globally over 25 expected to suffer a stroke in their lifetime, Wellumio is on a mission to transform stroke recovery and reduce healthcare costs.

“Our portable AI-enhanced, magnetic resonance-based brain scanner is significantly faster than traditional MRIs, making it ideal for quick assessments in emergency situations when every second counts. Delivering radial maps of the brain in minutes, Axana empowers emergency physicians, neurologists, radiologists and stroke care team members to rapidly detect strokes and guide critical treatment decisions during the crucial golden hour of care.”

Mitali Purohit, general partner at Nuance Capital and a director of Wellumio, says: “Axana is already showing promising results in clinical trials, offering a glimpse of a future where stroke, one of the world’s leading causes of death and disability, can be diagnosed earlier and more accurately. Wellumio’s technology holds exciting potential not only in stroke, which is the current focus, but also for future applications in a range of brain-related conditions and injuries.”

Cutting costs, saving lives

A stroke occurs when a bleed or blood clot blocks blood flow to the brain. Quickly restoring blood flow can prevent or reduce brain damage – which is why every minute counts.

Wellumio says the Axana scanner has the potential to transform stroke care by bringing MRI-based neuroimaging to the patient’s bedside. It delivers stroke biomarkers in just four minutes – without radiation, contrast agents, specialised infrastructure or radiology staff.

Beyond the human toll, stroke places a heavy financial burden on healthcare systems. Delays in treatment lead to higher mortality, longer hospital stays and costly long-term care. Per-patient costs often exceed US$140,000. In the US alone, stroke causes over US$53 billion in annual economic losses.

Axana enables earlier intervention to reduce both the human and financial cost of stroke – and is now seeking investors to scale its breakthrough device.

Wellumio is a finalist in the PwC Breakthrough Project Award category in the 2025 KiwiNet Research Commercialisation Awards. Winners are announced on 22 October.