Hamburg, Germany -- Philips Research has successfully concluded a usability and feasibility study of its decision support software tool for the automatic evaluation of dementia using PET (Positron Emission Tomography) image data. The software has been evaluated in collaboration with the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (Hamburg, Germany) and Austin Hospital (Melbourne, Australia).

Currently, one of the most effective ways of diagnosing dementia in its earlier stages is by performing a PET brain scan with the tracer FDG (Fluorodeoxyglucose). FDG-PET is a molecular imaging technique that produces a three-dimensional image of functional processes in the body in this case, the uptake of glucose that fuels brain activity. However, the interpretation of PET brain-scan images requires a great deal of skill, particularly in the early stages of neurodegenerative disease.

The Philips decision support software has shown positive results in retrospective studies using libraries of FDG-PET brain-scan images that had already been independently interpreted by an expert. In a study based on a University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf library of FDG-PET scans from 83 patients, the software achieved better than 98% correspondence with the expert physicians interpretation when programmed to differentiate between brain scans showing no signs of dementia, brain scans characteristic of Alzheimer's disease and those characteristic of Frontotemporal Dementia.
In a similar 48-patient study using FDG-PET images provided by the Austin Hospital (courtesy of Professor Christopher Rowe, Director of Nuclear Medicine & Centre for PET, Austin Hospital) the software achieved better than 80% accuracy in differentiating between the scans of un-diseased patients, those suffering from Alzheimers, those suffering from Frontotemporal Dementia and those suffering from Lewy Body Dementia. This so-called 4-class differential diagnosis is more difficult because indications of Alzheimer's and Lewy Body Dementia occur in similar areas of the brain, while indications of Frontotemporal Dementia appear in a separate area of the brain.

Dementia currently affects well over 25 million people worldwide. It is the end result of a number of progressive degenerative diseases of the brain. The most common dementia causing diseases are Alzheimer's Disease, Lewy-body Dementia and Frontotemporal Dementia, accounting for around 60%, 15% and 10% of all dementia cases respectively. Early differential diagnosis of the type of dementia that a patient is suffering from is essential in order to maximize the benefit of available drugs that can prevent rapid deterioration and subsequent loss in quality of life.

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