Alzheimer’s brain scan ‘Highly Commended’

A Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health¹ project was Highly Commended at last night's Health Service Journal awards.

The Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health is funded by the National Institute for Health Research² (NIHR) and was commended for developing a brain scan that can detect the early signs of Alzheimer's disease.  The commendation came in the Improving Care with Technology category.

The scan is an advanced computer programme that automatically and accurately picks up the early signs of Alzheimer's disease from a routine clinical brain scan.  Early diagnosis of Alzheimer's is clinically difficult and patients with the early signs are frequently not treated until their symptoms worsen - often many months or years later.  The new scan can return 85% accurate diagnostic results in under 24 hours and is currently being field tested in South London and Maudsley (SLaM) NHS Foundations Trust's four memory clinics.

The awards were hotly contested with over 1000 entries this year.

Dr Andy Simmons, Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health said: "Being recognised like this helps us to shout about our new technology, which has the potential to improve medical practice and benefit thousands of Alzheimer's sufferers, and their carers, across the world."

The 'Automated MRI' software automatically compares or benchmarks someone's routine brain scan image against 1200 other brain scans displaying varying stages of Alzheimer's disease.

The 'field test' also provides a supply of research grade images, which has important implications for the development of the next generation of drugs for dementia.  If successful the aim is to roll the technology out across the NHS.

The Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health is based at the Maudsley Hospital and is a partnership between King's College London's Institute of Psychiatry and SLaM.

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¹ The BRC for Mental Health is based at the Maudsley Hospital and is a partnership between King's College London's Institute of Psychiatry and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM).  It was selected through open competition by an international expert selection panel and is distinguished as a leader in scientific translation. Its purpose is to accelerate the translation of fundamental biomedical research into clinical practice for patient benefit. One way it will achieve this is through the early adoption of new insights in technologies, techniques and treatments for health improvement.  It is the only biomedical research centre specialising in mental health in the UK.

² The National Institute for Health Research provides the framework through which the research staff and research infrastructure of the NHS in England is positioned, maintained and managed as a national research facility. The NIHR provides the NHS with the support and infrastructure it needs to conduct first class research funded by the Government and its partners alongside high-quality patient care, education and training. Its aim is to support outstanding individuals (both leaders and collaborators), working in world class facilities (both NHS and university), conducting leading edge research focused on the needs of patients. www.nihr.ac.uk"