Clinical Research Collaboration for Stroke in Korea Imaging Repository:A Prospective Multicenter Neuroimaging Repository
Journal:
medRxiv
Published Date:
Mar 20, 2026
Abstract
Background: Prospective stroke registries have advanced our understanding of cerebrovascular disease, yet most reduce neuroimaging to categorical variables, forfeiting the multidimensional information inherent in clinical imaging. We describe the CRCS-K Imaging Repository, a prospective multicenter platform that systematically collects all stroke neuroimaging and integrates artificial intelligence (AI)-based automated quantification with clinical and outcome data through a dedicated research platform, AISCAN. Methods: Building upon the Clinical Research Collaboration for Stroke in Korea (CRCS-K), a nationwide prospective registry, all neuroimaging (computed tomography [CT], magnetic resonance [MR], and angiography) performed during index hospitalization of consecutive acute ischemic stroke patients was collected from 18 comprehensive stroke centers. Imaging underwent centralized quality verification, sequence classification, and AI-based quantification. As a proof-of-concept application, we examined the association between pre-treatment imaging modality, treatment workflow efficiency, and functional outcomes in patients receiving intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) or endovascular treatment (EVT). Results: From June 2022 through May 2025, 225,159 imaging sequences were collected from 20,792 patients. AI-based quantification modules converted these into standardized numeric features encompassing ischemic lesion volumes, perfusion parameters, white matter hyperintensity burden, and cerebral microbleed counts. Substantial inter-hospital variation in imaging modality selection was observed, with MR-first workflows ranging from 1.0% to 56.7% across centers. In the proof-of-concept analysis, each additional imaging sequence was associated with prolonged door-to-treatment times for both IVT and EVT. Propensity score overlap-weighted analyses suggested numerically more favorable functional outcomes with CT-based imaging among EVT-treated patients, whereas differences among IVT-treated patients were smaller and less consistent. Conclusions: The CRCS-K Imaging Repository demonstrates the feasibility of large-scale, prospective neuroimaging collection integrated with AI-based quantification and clinical data. The infrastructure enables clinically consequential questions that conventional registries cannot address.
