The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted 510(k) clearance for QyScore, a cloud-based imaging software for the automated quantification of key magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) markers of central nervous system (CNS) disease. MRI is an important tool for diagnosing multiple sclerosis and other CNS disorders. By…

Persistent fatigue in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) is associated with damage in specific areas of the brain, regardless of depression symptoms, a study shows. The study, “Microstructural fronto-striatal and temporo-insular alterations are associated with fatigue in patients with multiple sclerosis independent of white…

SyntheticMR‘s SyMRI NEURO, a software package that can segment and measure myelin volume in the brain, is now available for use by radiologists in the U.S. through an agreement with Siemens Healthineers and its syngo.via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) visualization platform, a press release states. SyMRI NEURO’s integrated software package…

A new diagnostic method for multiple sclerosis (MS) that uses 3D analysis of a patient’s brain may be able to tell physicians which lesions there are more likely to heal with time and which are not, and as such could be a game-changer in treating the disease, according to the…

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) used to assess inflammation in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients should include scans of the spinal cord and not be restricted to the brain, because brain scans alone risk underestimating disease progression, a study suggests. These results were shared in the presentation, “Measuring disease activity in…

Deep grey matter volume loss in the brain drives multiple sclerosis (MS) progression and disability, and is particularly evident in people with progressive forms of the disease, a retrospective multi-center study suggests. The study “Deep grey matter volume loss drives disability worsening in multiple sclerosis” was published in…

The Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers has updated guidelines for using magnetic resonance imaging to evaluate people suspected of having multiple sclerosis. Doctors use the MRI guidelines not only to diagnose MS but also to track treatment results. A task force is reviewing the new guidelines before they're published. The working document is called  "Revised Guidelines of the CMSC MRI Protocol for the Diagnosis and Follow-up of MS." The task force, composed of neurologists, radiologists and imaging scientists experienced in MS, met in January 2017 to revise the guidelines. They also updated information about the situations for which standardized brain and spinal cord MRI scans should be used. One change is a recommendation that gadolinium, a contrast agent in scans, be used cautiously. The previous update, published in 2015, included no constraints on the use of gadolinium-based contrast agents. But soon after publication, information emerged showing that gadolinium, although not toxic, accumulates in the brain. This prompted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to recommend limiting the use of gadolinium to “appropriate clinical circumstances.” To mirror the increased awareness of gadolinium deposits, the new guidelines say: “While there is no known central nervous system toxicity, these agents should be used judiciously, recognizing that gadolinium continues to play an invaluable role in specific circumstances related to the diagnosis and follow-up of individuals with MS.” Since 2009, the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers has addressed a number of other issues. One is encouraging the use of three-dimensional MRI for brain scans. Another is developing protocols for monitoring severe optic nerve inflammation and progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, or PML, a brain disease caused by a virus. The guidelines have been revised to recommend the specific timing of scans for monitoring PML. The update also includes recommendations for the timing of scans on patients receiving disease-modifying drugs. Since 2009, the guidelines have included recommendations on scans of radiologic isolated syndrome, a condition where MS-like MRI lesions are present without symptoms. And they have included provisions on the value of using MRI changes to evaluate treatment effectiveness. The centers' goal "is to standardize the MRI protocol and make these recommendations a useful guideline for neurologists, neuroradiologists, and related healthcare professionals during initial evaluations and during follow-up of patients with MS, and ultimately provide optimum care for those individuals dealing with this unpredictable disease,” June Halper, the centers' chief executive officer, said in a press release.

A new study draws a reverse link between the number of MRI scans of multiple sclerosis patients who are on interferon-beta 1a and doctors declaring there is evidence of the patients’ disease worsening. When doctors looked at one scan, rather than multiple ones, they were more likely to say that…

MSBase and icometrix have joined efforts in a large-scale project to identify imaging markers of multiple sclerosis (MS) that could help diagnose the disease in its early stages. The combination of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) information collected from MS patients with clinical information from the MSBase Registry can offer new insights in disease progression, potentially leading to new predictive tools for MS. It may also promote more standardized use of imaging measures in clinical practice. With more than 52,000 MS patients, the MSBase Registry is an international database committed to collecting patients’ information as well as sharing, tracking and evaluating overall outcome data in MS and other neurological conditions. Until now, the MSBase Registry included only descriptive information regarding patients' imaging analysis results, with no access to full imaging data. This joint, large-scale project will include MRI scan data routinely acquired in clinical setting taking advantage of icometrix’s software platform, MSmetrix. “We wish to unlock the power of MRI for personalized monitoring in MS," Helmut Butzkueven, director of MSBase, said in a press release. "The MSBase Scientific Leadership group has selected MRI integration as the top strategic priority for MSBase. We believe that already conducted MRI scans represent an enormous missed opportunity, because advanced measurements to assess change over time from these scans are not currently in practical use.” Butzkueven said MSBase "will test the predictive power of this unlocking of MRI data in the first phase," with a total of 10,000 MRI data points in at least 3,000 MS patients from all over the world. The project is expected to identify disease progression markers that could help detect early signs of MS by MRI evaluation. This investigator-initiated collaboration between icometrix and the MSBase Foundation is being supported by three global pharmaceutical giants: Novartis, Biogen and Roche. “MRI measures play an essential part in the complex puzzle of MS,” said Danny Bar Zohar, global head of neuroscience development at Novartis. “Partnering with MS Base and icometrix in this exciting project will bring the acquisition of high-quality real world data to the next level, ultimately improving the outcome of people living with MS.”

Multiple sclerosis patients who start Rituxan (rituximab) treatment are three times more likely to have unchanged or improved brain-scan readings than worse ones, according to a study. Holy Name Medical Center researchers presented the findings at the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers annual meeting in New Orleans, May 24-27. The presentation…

Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients treated with Tysabri (natalizumab) is linked to better outcomes if the condition does not give rise to actual symptoms and is diagnosed early. Limited brain lesions and more protective immune responses were also seen in patients who fared better, but researchers…

Royal Philips will introduce a new suite of magnetic resonance (MR)-based software applications at the upcoming Radiological Society of North America’s 102nd Scientific Meeting and Annual Assembly (RSNA 2016; #RSNA16) Nov. 27 to Dec. 2 in Chicago. Philips’ Ingenia family of digital MRI systems provides radiologists with a unique set…

A large study of multiple sclerosis patients (MS) came to the conclusion that clinical and brain imaging assessments drawn from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans are poor measures of long-term prognosis for patients. The study, “Long-term evolution of multiple sclerosis disability in the treatment era,” published in the journal…

Detecting brain atrophy in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients requires high quality scans, too expensive and complicated for routine clinical use. But this may change with a new software that simplifies the calculation of brain atrophy based on data from routine magnetic resonance images (MRI). The new tool and its benefits were recently described…

Researchers working with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are often faced with a problem: an average MRI brain scan produces a considerable amount of images (around 600 megabytes), but half carry distortions that make them unreadable. These “phase images,” as they are known, are usually discarded and their insights lost. Now, the work of researchers…

Results from the BENEFIT11 trial indicate that early treatment with IFNB-1b leads to improvements in cognition and fatigue in the long-term, as well as sustained employment and favorable magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) outcomes, measured at the 11-year mark. Supported by Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, the study, titled “Long-term Impact of Early MS Treatment with…

Results from a Phase 3 clinical trial entitled “AVANCE” revealed promising clinical outcomes in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis treated for one year with peg interferon beta-1a. The analysis was published in the journal BMC Neurology, in a study entitled “Effect of peg interferon beta-1a on MRI measures and…