The protocol of TAILOR, the second clinical observational studies at the heart of the TARGET project, has now been published.

The study addresses a key challenge in stroke care: how can atrial fibrillation be detected more effectively, and how can clinicians better understand the factors influencing a patient’s recovery after an ischaemic stroke?

Atrial fibrillation is one of the main risk factors for stroke, but it can be difficult to diagnose when episodes are brief, irregular or do not cause clear symptoms. TAILOR will tackle this challenge by combining extended cardiac monitoring with clinical information and advanced brain imaging.

The study will involve patients who have experienced a neuroimaging-confirmed ischaemic stroke and will be conducted at Hospital del Mar in Barcelona, Spain, and Radboud University Medical Centre in Nijmegen, the Netherlands.

The newly published protocol sets out how the study will be carried out, which data will be collected and how researchers will explore the links between cardiac activity, brain imaging features and patient outcomes.

TAILOR will also provide valuable data for the development and validation of TARGET’s virtual twin models. These digital models aim to bring together different types of patient information to create a more complete and personalised picture of each individual’s condition and likely health trajectory.

By connecting real-world clinical research with artificial intelligence and advanced modelling, TARGET aims to support clinicians in making more informed decisions across the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of atrial fibrillation-related stroke.

The publication of the TAILOR protocol therefore marks more than the launch of a study methodology: it represents an important step towards translating TARGET’s innovative research into tools that could contribute to more precise, personalised and patient-centred stroke care.

👉 Read the TAILOR study protocol here.