By comparing the scans of 600 people with the condition and 600 without, they have developed a computer programme that can differentiate between the two with 85 per cent accuracy. Patients can be told within 24 hours.
A clinical pilot project at Maudsley Hospital in south London has just started. It will be evaluated for a year and, if successful, could be rolled out across the NHS.
Dr Andrew Simmons, a neuroimaging expert at the Institute of Psychiatry, which is attached to the hospital, explained that the method worked by looking for brain shrinkage in the temporal lobe at the base of the brain.
He said the technique could help doctors make a positive diagnosis of Alzheimer’s, without which patients could not be prescribed with three drugs – Aricept, Exelon and Reminyl – that help slow onset of the disease.
Alzheimer’s accounts for roughly two-thirds of dementia cases in Britain. Less than half of dementia patients have been diagnosed.
The MRI project is an example of “translational research” – that which will have a direct benefit for NHS patients.
The Government has just announced that such research will receive £775 million worth of funding over the next five years.
By Stephen Adams
Telegraph UK