News Biometrica MS Launched at ECTRIMS 2015 to Support Routine Multiple Sclerosis Care Biometrica MS Launched at ECTRIMS 2015 to Support Routine Multiple Sclerosis Care by Patricia Silva, PhD | October 9, 2015 Share this article: Share article via email Copy article link Biometrica MS, a technology that provides an easy to use service for neurologists to quantify lesion load as well as brain volume measures in clinical practice, is a web-based image analysis tool that was recently launched at the 31st Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS), a conference that is being held this week in Barcelona, Spain (October 7 – 10, 2015). A variety of clinical information including cut-off points, as established by data from phase II and III studies, can be applied to Biometrica MSĀ® to benefit the assessment of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) in routine care. MS is a chronic, persistent inflammatory-demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS), typically characterized by focal areas of white matter demyelination and inflammation, and significant brain atrophy, a measure of the most destructive pathological process occurring in MS. Brain atrophy is detected from the earliest stages of MS, and leads to irreversible neurological and cognitive impairment. Brain volume lossĀ in MS is measured with the use of magnetic resonance (MR), a technology that processes images with advanced computer tools and requires rigorous quality control on each level: MRI protocol definition, data acquisition, image pre- and post-processing and data management. Until recently, brain volume loss quantification could only be rigorously assessed in specific settings like clinical studies. Biometrica MS was developed by jung diagnostics, a company thatĀ offers centralized image analysis services to support routine clinical workup, in partnership with Prof. Sven Schippling and colleagues at the University of Zurich. Prof. Sven Schippling emphasized in a press release,Ā āAssessment of the individual level of brain volume has the potential to add important information on the neurodegenerative component of the disease. Once assessed reliably it might in the future assist in individual patient monitoring.ā Dr. Lothar Spies, managing director of jung diagnostics, further added: āTremendous effort has been spent to ensure that brain volume loss is measured reliably and robustly. We know from our own experience over the past years that providing such a service to clinical routine is not trivial. It requires constant adherence to strict quality measures.ā Print This Page About the Author Patricia Silva, PhD PatrĆcia holds a PhD in medical microbiology and infectious diseases from the Leiden University Medical Center, Netherlands, and completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at the Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Lisbon, Portugal. Her work in academia was mainly focused on molecular biology and the genetic traits of infectious agents such as viruses and parasites. PatrĆcia earned several travel awards to present her work at international scientific meetings. She is a published author of several peer-reviewed science articles. Tags brain volume loss, ECTRIMS
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