MR Software Developed to Help Identify Subtle Epileptic Lesions

Researchers have identified potential benefits of a new computer application that automatically detects subtle brain lesions in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans in patients with epilepsy.

In a study published in the February 2011 issue of the journal PlosOne, the authors discussed the software's potential to assist radiologists in better identifying and locating visually undetectable, operable lesions.

"Our method automatically identified abnormal areas in MRI scans in 92% of the patients sampled, which were previously identified by expert radiologists reviewing multiple images,” said first-author Thomas Thesen, PhD, assistant professor, department of neurology, New York University (NYU) Langone Medical Center (New York, NY, USA). "Based on these findings, we will focus on the ability of our application to detect the more subtle epileptic malformations that are not easily detectable by the human eye. We believe this could lead to new tools to greatly help radiologists provide more accurate and faster results with objective measures for standardizing readings.”

The proof-of-concept study revealed that noninvasive and automated detection of known epileptogenic structural abnormalities in cortex is possible, and supports its potential use as a tool for diagnosis and planning of epilepsy surgery.

The researchers are encouraged by the initial findings of the study and have already started assessing the application's ability to determine undetected lesions in the previously negative MRI scans, with findings to be published later in 2011.

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New York University Langone Medical Center