From the November 2021 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine

Researchers at the Center for BrainHealth at the University of Texas at Dallas have found that consumption and reserve functions for neurological energy metabolism in the brain may be compromised in cases of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), the stage of decline between healthy aging and serious diseases like dementia and Alzheimer’s. It is believed to be the first paper to confirm that energy reserve decreases in MCI, in many cases, years before Alzheimer’s disease begins.

"Alzheimer's disease starts at the molecular level in the brain even before the accumulation of beta-amyloid and tau in a vulnerable population. The use of ultrahigh-field magnetic strength at 7 Tesla has enabled researchers to detect these early molecular changes in real time, primarily in brain research focused on energy metabolism," said lead author Dr. Namrata Das, a program specialist and research neuroscientist in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences.


Postmortem research has shown that the metabolism deficit is lower in earlier stages of Alzheimer’s than in severe cases. Das and her colleagues, as a result, theorize that the energy level disturbance occurs early on in the disease.

Their study assessed 15 cognitively normal, 15 MCI and 11 patients with beginning stages of Alzheimer’s in executive function, memory, attention, visuospatial skills and language. The 7T MR scans measured ratios between the energy molecules adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and phosphocreatine (PCr), and inorganic intracellular phosphate. Scans of temporal lobes showed energy reserve to be lower in MCI patients and lower still in Alzheimer’s patients.

The findings were published in Frontiers in Neuroscience.

GE gets FDA nod for AIR Recon DL on 7T MR scanner
GE Healthcare’s deep learning image reconstruction technology, AIR Recon DL, became available on its SIGNA 7.0T MR scanner in May.

The FDA greenlit the integration of the two technologies, with AIR Recon DL poised to improve image quality for diagnostic confidence and decrease scanning time.

“AIR Recon DL — which has received overwhelmingly positive user feedback and fast, broad adoption — further extends the capabilities of GE Healthcare’s completely new SIGNA 7.0T system, empowering our research and clinical partners to pursue new frontiers in neuroscience and musculoskeletal imaging,” said Jie Xue, president and CEO of MR at GE Healthcare, in a statement.

AIR Recon DL utilizes all raw data collected by MR scanners to maximize image quality and resolution, even when scanning time is shorter. The solution first launched on GE Healthcare’s 3.0T and 1.5T MR scanners and has been found to create sharper and less noisy images as well as reduce exam times by 30% to 50%.

November 2021 Magazine

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