Real-time prospective (shadow mode) validation of an AI-based clinical decision support system for predicting 3-month functional outcome in acute stroke: the VALIDATE study protocol

IntroductionDespite the proven benefits of reperfusion therapies in acute ischemic stroke, treatment decisions in the hyperacute phase remain complex and are rarely supported by individualized outcome predictions. Artificial intelligence (AI)-based clinical decision support systems (CDSS) offer potential real-time prognostic estimates, but prospective evidence of their feasibility and performance in routine clinical workflows is limited. Our aim is to prospectively evaluate real-time feasibility, usability, and predictive performance of an AI-based CDSS (VALIDATE-CDSS) for individualized outcome prediction in acute stroke care. Methods and analysisProspective, multicenter, observational study enrolling consecutive patients with acute ischemic stroke presenting to three tertiary stroke centers. Clinical management will follow standard practice at the discretion of treating physicians. In parallel, a dedicated researcher will collect patient data in real time and input them into the VALIDATE-CDSS using a mobile application, operating in shadow mode without influencing clinical decisions. The system will generate individualized predictions of 3-month functional outcome (modified Rankin Scale) for four treatment strategies (intravenous thrombolysis, endovascular thrombectomy, combined therapy, or no reperfusion) at three sequential time points: baseline clinical data, non-contrast CT, and CT angiography. The primary outcome is the real-world feasibility and usability of the VALIDATE-CDSS in the hyperacute stroke workflow. Secondary outcomes include predictive performance, agreement between model-suggested and actual treatments, incremental value with increasing data availability, and assessment of potential bias across predefined subgroups. This study will provide prospective real-world evidence on the implementation and clinical potential of AI-based decision support for personalized treatment selection in acute ischemic stroke Ethics and disseminationPatient enrollment began after approval from the ethics committees of all participating centers. Results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed open-access journals and conference presentations. Following open science principles, anonymized data and metadata will be made publicly available in the Zenodo repository upon study completion. Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05622539). Strengths and limitations of this study- First study to assess the feasibility of integrating an outcome-predictor CDSS into real-life hyperacute stroke workflows, addressing a critical gap between AI model development and clinical implementation - Multicenter, prospective observational time-motion shadow-mode design, which minimizes interference with standard care while capturing real-world operational data - Validation of a locked AI model developed from independent retrospective multicenter datasets across different populations, reducing the risk of overfitting to local case-mix - Real-time data acquisition in the emergency department poses a significant operational challenge, with potential for missing or delayed inputs that may affect model performance in practice - Risk of bias cannot be excluded, including spectrum bias from non-anticipated subgroups, temporal drift in clinical practice or patient populations, and centre-level variation in workflow and data quality