By accessing more than 1.6 million brain scans collected from paties across Scotland, scieists hope it can help predict people’s risk of demeia. A team of 20 researchers from the Universities of Edinburgh and Dundee have been graed unprecedeed permission to anonymise the vast number of brain scans collected over a decade from across the Scottish population.
This is the first time that scieists in the UK have access to such a large amou of valuable data. They will use artificial ielligence (AI) to analyze these scans to ideify patterns or signs associated with demeia. Demeia occurs due to the accumulation of differe types of proteins in the brain, which damages the brain tissue and causes a decrease in cognitive level. These molecular and cellular changes in the brain usually begin years before symptoms appear.
By studying a large number of brain scans, the researchers hope to develop tools to help radiologists diagnose demeia early. NHS Scotland has given scieists permission to use 1.6 million CT and MRI images collected between 2008 and 2018 during routine clinical care. Previous studies were limited due to limited access to a smaller number of scans. Access to large and quality data is one of the main pillars in the developme of artificial ielligence models.
The decision to gra permission to review this huge volume of scans was made by the Public Ierest and Privacy Commission (NHS) Scotland. The committee is responsible for ensuring that applicas have carefully considered the public ierest and privacy implications. All scans will be anonymous so that the researchers do not have any information about the paties. Informing paties about their risk of developing diseases such as Alzheimer’s can help them make changes to slow the progression of the disease.
“If you know you’re at risk, you can make lifestyle changes that improve your brain health,” says Willie Gilder, a former journalist who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s three years ago. The 71-year-old, from Edinburgh, added: “Since I was diagnosed early, I know that staying meally active will help me.” He also poied out: “Alzheimer’s treatmes are being developed that look very promising, but these treatmes are more effective in the early stages of the disease, which is why early detection is so critical.”
The latest research project is called Scan-Dan (Scottish Artificial Ielligence in Neuroimaging to Predict Demeia and Neurodegenerative Diseases) and is part of a global research collaboration called NEURii. “Scotland and the UK are leading the way in clinical data research,” says Professor Emanuele Treco, an expert in artificial ielligence and medical imaging at the University of Dundee. “This new data set will be invaluable to neuroscieists,” he adds.
Professor Turko added that the scieists did not know exactly what they were looking for, but given the large volume of brain scans, they were confide they could ideify patterns associated with demeia. “Even if we don’t know exactly what we’re looking for at the outset, we can still predict whether someone is at risk,” he said.
The research team expects to gain a better understanding of the technology’s poteial by early next year, but developing a practical product will take several more years. Professor Will Whiteley of the University of Edinburgh’s Ceer for Clinical Brain Sciences, who is co-leading the project, said: “Currely, treatmes for demeia are expensive, rare and of uncertain value.” “If we can collect data from a large group of high-risk people who then conse to participate in trials, we can really start to develop new treatmes,” he added.
He coinued: “Using these images requires multiple permissions; Therefore, in collaboration with Public Health Scotland, we have gone through a thorough process to comply with all necessary confideiality and legal arrangemes.”
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