Glasgow Coma Scale & NIHSS Calculator

A modern iOS clinical tool for rapid bedside assessment using the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) and the NIH Stroke Scale (NIHSS), built with SwiftUI.

Developed by a critical care nurse with 8 years of experience in a medical-neurosurgical ICU - IMCU, this app reflects real clinical workflow needs: fast input, instant interpretation, and safety alerts when they matter most.

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Features

Glasgow Coma Scale

• Structured input for ocular (E), verbal (V), and motor (M) responses using standardized GCS options
• Automatic total score calculation with severity interpretation:
  • 🟢 Mild (13–15)
  • 🟡 Moderate (9–12)
  • 🔴 Severe (≤ 8)
• Automatic airway protection alert: ⚠️ Glasgow ≤ 8 — Consider protecting airway
• Quick-clear button to reset all fields for a new patient
• Score displayed per component (E, V, M) immediately after selection

NIHSS (NIH Stroke Scale)

• Full NIHSS assessment accessible from the main GCS screen
• Navigation via toolbar button or horizontal swipe gesture

UX & Design

• Built with NavigationStack and native Form layout
• Minimal, distraction-free interface optimized for clinical settings
• Immediate visual feedback on every selection
• Fast navigation between GCS and NIHSS views

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Screenshots

| Glasgow Principal | Alerta Vía Aérea | NIHSS | |:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:| | | | |

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Clinical Context

This app was designed for use in adult critical care and neurosurgical units. The GCS thresholds and alert logic follow internationally recognized clinical criteria:

Score	Severity	Clinical Action
13–15	Mild	Monitor
9–12	Moderate	Close monitoring, consider imaging
≤ 8	Severe	Consider airway protection

The airway alert (GCS ≤ 8) fires automatically as scores are entered, supporting rapid clinical decision-making without requiring the clinician to remember the threshold.

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Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Language	Swift 5.9
UI Framework	SwiftUI
Navigation	NavigationStack
State Management	@State, Binding<Int> with nil-mapping
Minimum iOS	iOS 16.0
IDE	Xcode 15+

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Architecture

GlasgowNIHSSApp/ ├── ContentView.swift # GCS main view — input scoring, alert logic ├── NIHSSView.swift # NIHSS assessment view └── GlasgowNIHSSApp.swift # App entry point

Key implementation decisions:

• GCS scores stored as @State var score: Int? to represent the unselected state explicitly, avoiding ambiguous zero-values
• Each Picker uses a Binding<Int> that maps nil → -1 internally, enabling a native "Select" placeholder option with .tag(-1)
• onChange(of: total) observes the computed score and triggers the airway alert modal when total <= 8
• DragGesture with a 50pt threshold enables swipe-to-NIHSS navigation as a secondary affordance

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Getting Started

git clone https://github.com/diegovallejx/glasgow-nihss-calculator-ios.git
cd glasgow-nihss-calculator-ios
open GlasgowNIHSSApp.xcodeproj

Build and run on Simulator or a physical device (iOS 16+).

No external dependencies. No CocoaPods. No Swift Package Manager packages required.

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Roadmap

• App Store publication
• Pediatric GCS variant
• Score history / session log
• Export report as PDF
• Integration with sedoanalgesia calculator (companion app)

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Author

Diego Vallejos A.
Registered Nurse · Critical Care · Medical-Neurosurgical IMCU
Complejo Asistencial Dr. Víctor Ríos Ruiz, Los Ángeles, Chile

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License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for details.

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Disclaimer: This application is a clinical support tool. It does not replace the professional judgment of a licensed healthcare provider.