Computers Used to Detect Alzheimer's in MRI Brain Scans

Computers are now being trained to detect early signs of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scans, according to recent research.

Researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale (Arizona, USA) and other participating centers were able to diagnose AD successfully, using software that detected the difference between MRI brain scans of those with Alzheimer's and those without the disease with accuracy as high as 96%. The study also revealed that the computer-based diagnostic method could effectively differentiate patients with AD from those with frontotemporal lobar degeneration, a form of dementia involving degeneration of gray matter. The findings were published in the March 2008 issue of the journal Brain.

Data from different medical centers, using scans from different equipment, were combined, and the findings proved compatible. "Currently, MRI scans are not used clinically to diagnose Alzheimer's disease, but rather to rule out diseases such as stroke or tumors. This research finding could enable physicians to use MRI scans for diagnosing the condition earlier and more accurately,” stated Cynthia M. Stonnington, M.D., a specialist in psychiatry at Mayo Clinic and one of the authors of the study.

The investigators used the software to analyze brain scans of individuals for whom Alzheimer's had been pathologically confirmed. The software was able to compare the information with images of healthy brains, and use the data to diagnose new sets of images.

AD is the most common cause of dementia, which is the loss of intellectual and social abilities severe enough to impede with daily functioning tasks. Dementia occurs in people with Alzheimer's disease because healthy brain tissue degenerates, causing a steady decline in memory and mental abilities. Although there is no cure for AD, researchers have made progress. Treatments are available that improve the quality of life for some people with Alzheimer's. Furthermore, more drugs are being evaluated, and scientists have discovered several genes associated with AD, which may lead to new treatments to block progression of this complex disease.

Researchers explained in their study that a major advantage of using computers to assist in diagnosing AD is that they may prove less expensive, faster, and more accurate than the current method. "The next step is to see whether we can use the technique to diagnose disease pre-symptomatically,” stated Dr. Stonnington.


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