From the November 2022 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
7T MR yields new benefits for understanding, treating Parkinson's
7T MR may help determine which patients with previously untreatable symptoms of Parkinson’s and similar conditions would benefit from new treatments, according to findings published in May.
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Researchers at the University of Cambridge’s Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre used the scanner to identify Parkinson's and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) patients who endured damage to their locus coeruleus, a tiny part of the brain that produces noradrenaline, which helps with brain functioning such as attention, arousal, thinking and motivation.
In a study last year, they found certain PSP patients had lost as much as 90% of their locus coeruleus and surmised that noradrenaline boosters could help alleviate symptoms in these specific patients.
Many companies produce these drugs, which have been approved for similar uses. Unfortunately, 3T and lower magnetic field MR systems are unable to show the locus coeruleus of living patients on scans, making it impossible to identify patients with damage there.
Co-lead author professor James Rowe, from the university's department of clinical neurosciences, told HCB News that 7T may solve the problem because of its higher resolution. "The locus coeruleus is also the first part of the brain to be damaged by Alzheimer's disease, as well as being among the most sensitive regions to Parkinson's and PSP. So the ability to detect individual impact of the disease as a guide to treatment is of importance to many people. The locus coeruleus is also an important factor in ageing — and how to stay cognitively well as one gets older."
Steven Ford
Possible problems with this study
March 08, 2023 12:47
The study was partially sponsored by the manufacturer of the ultra low field MRI and some of the physicians were investors in that company. This alone does not mean that the study is invalid.
The study you cite DOES NOT show that the low field MRI is nearly as effective as high field MRI in diagnosing stroke. Most importantly, the patients imaged in the ULF scanner had already been diagnosed with a stroke before imaging a second time with the low field machine. A more rigorous study would use a double-blind process.
Secondly, some of the patients were previously imaged using CT, not MRI. This is the very definition of an apples to oranges comparison.
The MRI scanner in question has limited resolution compared with virtually every MRI in the USA, even 20-year old scanners. It cannot image very small tumors or bleeds.
Finally, the study states that about 80% of the strokes were correctly identified. A more accurate headline would be 'ULF MRI leads to correct diagnosis 80% of the time' or 'ULF MRI Better Than Nothing'. More critically but more accurately, 'ULF MRI is a Poor Alternative if You Have Another Choice'.
A more meaningful study would compare low-cost CT scans to the use of this innovative and clever scanner, because they are more readily available and less costly.
This study has anecdotal value.
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