Artificial Intelligence Can Detect Alzheimer’s Disease in Brain Scans Six Years before a Diagnosis
Using a common brain scan, researchers used a machine-learning algorithm to diagnose Alzheimer’s in its early stage, about six months prior to a clinical diagnosis. This allows doctors to offer treatment. Alzheimer’s has no known cure, but some drugs have been used in the recent years to help control the progression of this condition. However, to be effective these treatments should be given in Alzheimer’s early stages. This has motivated scientists to come up with ways of diagnosing the condition early. The study: A recent study by Jae Ho Sohn, UC San Francisco’s resident in the Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, combined machine-learning with neuroimaging to predict whether a patient would get Alzheimer’s disease when they faced a memory impairment for the first time. Sohn used a machine-learning algorithm with PET scans to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease in its early stage . Sohn fed the algorithm with images from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiativ