MRI

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…

EyeStat, a portable device to measure blink reflex, has been cleared for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). On the heels of promising results for assessing brain injury, the manufacturer, Blinktbi, plans to test if the device can be used for the early detection…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has agreed to allow Myeliviz, an imaging agent of myelin — the protective layer that covers nerve fibers and is damaged in multiple sclerosis (MS) — to be evaluated in a clinical trial with healthy volunteers. Myeliviz, created by Case Western Reserve University researchers, has the potential…

A large retrospective study suggests that a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) marker — called “brain atrophied T2 lesion volume” — could help predict the timing of multiple sclerosis (MS) progression. According to the study, this marker was the only MRI parameter capable of predicting disease progression, compared with other…

With the help of 7 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), investigators discovered that leptomeningeal enhancement — a radiographic finding indicative of brain inflammation — is more common than previously thought in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), and is tied to lesions in specific regions of the brain.

A 30-year study of outcomes in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients reports that radiological findings in the first year of disease onset, and the amount of disability evident at five years, helps to predict both the likelihood of a person advancing to secondary progressive MS (SPMS) and long-term survival. The study,…

People with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) have poorer neurite density — a measure that relates to the amount of nerve cell projections, including axons and dendrites involved in nerve-to-nerve communication — in the brain and spinal cord than do those without this disease, a study shows. This measure, especially…

Editor’s note: “Need to Know” is a series inspired by common forum questions and comments from readers. Have a comment or question about MS? Visit our forum. This week’s question is inspired by the forum topic “Grey Matter Atrophy in MS Shown to Follow a Pattern” from July…

Editor’s note: “Need to Know” is a series inspired by common forum questions and comments from readers. Have a comment or question about MS? Visit our forum. This week’s question is inspired by the forum topic “MS Lesions and Silent Inflammation” from Aug. 16, 2018. Have an experience you…

Endothelin-1 (ET-1) — a molecule with potent blood vessel-narrowing (vasoconstrictive) properties — may be used as a biomarker of severity for optic neuritis in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), a small Italian study suggests. The molecule also may be a potential indicator of patients’ failure to recover…

Careful profiling of inflammatory markers in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of multiple sclerosis patients, coupled with standard exams and scans, helps in understanding disease evolution and treatment response, a case report suggests. It followed a relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patient whose inflammatory markers in the CSF remained high over time, and…

The volume of atrophied (shrunken) regions in the brain, as visible through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, can predict disease progression in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), new research reveals. The finding was published in the journal Radiology in an article titled, “Atrophied Brain T2 Lesion Volume…

Higher levels of vitamin D in the blood may help to protect the myelin sheath, slowing damage to nerve cells in people with progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), a brain imaging study reports. The study, “Vitamin D and MRI measures in progressive multiple sclerosis,” was published in the…

  Detecting changes to the brain’s central vein using common magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans is a useful and accurate strategy to enhance diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS), a new study shows. Analysis of more than 4,000 brain lesions, obtained from contrast-enhanced MRI scans collected from eight neuroimaging European…

Imaging techniques that measure damage to the brain, in addition to those that detect lesions, may be useful in predicting likely disease progression in people with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS), a study found. The study, “Early imaging predictors of longer term multiple sclerosis risk and severity…

Brain lesions appearing as dark rimmed, “smoldering” spots on imaging scans, representing active inflammation, may be a hallmark of more aggressive and disabling forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) report. Using a powerful MRI brain scanner and a 3D printer, the…

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…

3D Imaging of Brain Lesions May Spot Those Most Likely to Heal, Guiding Treatment These scientists are working to create a new diagnostic tool that would allow doctors to use an MRI to look at brain lesions in 3D. This would allow them to see the shape and surface…

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…

Routine screening through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) can predict long-term disease progression — leading to more certainty and informing better treatment choices, a 15-year study reported. The study, titled “Early imaging predictors of long-term…

Study Examines Gadolinium Deposits in MS Patients’ Brains, But Still Can’t Determine Relationship with Disease Severity Here’s some new information about gadodiamide, a contrast dye that is injected during some MRIs. The study confirms that gadolinium, the substance on which gadodiamide is based, builds up in the brain, but…

The use of gadodiamide, a gadolinium-based contrast agent (GBCA) often used to help clinicians visualize brain structures in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, leads to the accumulation of gadolinium in certain regions of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients’ brains early in the course of the disease, a study has found.

A new radiotracer called [F-18]PBR06, used in positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, helps detect changes in the brain’s grey matter that are linked to progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), a study shows. The findings support [F-18]PBR06’s potential for detecting signs of disease progression even before patients show…

DELIVER-MS Trial Recruiting RRMS Patients to Help Improve Treatment Decision-making What’s the best way to attack multiple sclerosis when it’s first diagnosed? Do you hit it hard and fast using the most effective disease-modifying therapy (DMT), or do you start with a lower efficacy DMT and slowly ramp up?…

Did you know that not all magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exams are of equal quality? Walmart officials know this, and they are concerned that poor exams given to their employees are costing the company money. Because people with multiple sclerosis are likely to have several MRIs over the…

Editor’s note: “Need to Know” is a series inspired by common forum questions and comments from readers. Have a comment or question about MS? Visit our forum. This week’s question is inspired by the forum topic “Gadolinium – The contrast agent used in MRI scans,” from April 10,…

This year’s John Dystel Prize for Multiple Sclerosis Research is being awarded to Anne H. Cross, a neurologist and MS chair in the department of neuroimmunology at  Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, for her research into the role of immune B-cells in multiple sclerosis attacks and new imaging…

Non-contrast MRI Effective in Monitoring Progression of MS, Study Shows There’s been increased interest in the risks versus the benefits of using gadolinium to make lesions more visible on an MRI. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an advisory last year raising the level of…

The evaluation of disease progression in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be performed without the use of a contrast agent, new research has shown. These findings suggest that routine use of contrast-enhanced MRI is unnecessary for most follow-ups with MS patients, reducing both imaging…

A method based on cerebrospinal fluid measurements and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can aid in stratifying patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) at the time of diagnosis, which may help identify a tailored therapeutic approach for each patient from early disease stages. The data was presented by Roberta Magliozzi, from…