"Early Alzheimer's Diagnosis Possible Through Brain Capacity Measurement"

Yeouido St. Mary's Hospital Professors Ryu Dong-woo and Seoul St. Mary's Hospital Professor Yang Dong-won Team
Utilize Independently Developed 'Automatic Brain Volume Imaging Program'
Confirmed High Diagnostic Accuracy for Alzheimer's Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment

Professor Ryu Dong-woo, Department of Neurology, Yeouido St. Mary's Hospital (left), Professor Yang Dong-won, Department of Neurology, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] Domestic researchers have discovered a new imaging marker that can rapidly diagnose early Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment through brain volume analysis.

Professor Ryu Dong-woo of the Department of Neurology at Yeouido St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, and Professor Yang Dong-won’s team at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital announced on the 4th that they have established a new diagnostic model that distinguishes Alzheimer's disease, mild cognitive impairment, and normal individuals by utilizing their independently developed automated brain volume analysis imaging program (QbraVo).

Typically, changes in brain volume occur in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. However, due to individual differences and other factors, the diagnostic accuracy using brain volume was lower than that of cognitive function tests.

QbraVo is an automated program that quickly and accurately measures brain volume using brain magnetic resonance imaging (Brain MRI) based on the anatomical structure of the brain. The research team newly developed the 'Standardized Atrophy Volume Ratio,' which is the ratio of partial brain volume to cerebellar volume, and by utilizing this, they constructed a new Alzheimer's disease diagnostic model that integrates cognitive function tests used in existing Alzheimer's dementia diagnosis and the medial temporal lobe standardized atrophy volume ratio.

The research team measured brain volume using QbraVo on groups of normal individuals (56 people), mild cognitive impairment patients (44 people), and Alzheimer's dementia patients (45 people). As a result, the medial temporal lobe standardized atrophy volume ratio using QbraVo showed high diagnostic ability to distinguish dementia and mild cognitive impairment from normal individuals. Additionally, the diagnostic model using both the Mini-Mental State Examination and the medial temporal lobe standardized atrophy volume ratio was able to diagnose dementia (diagnostic accuracy 92.9%) and mild cognitive impairment (diagnostic accuracy 79.0%) with high accuracy. In particular, mild cognitive impairment showed higher accuracy than existing diagnostic methods. The average analysis time was 5 minutes and 36 seconds, enabling rapid analysis.

Professor Ryu stated, “This study is significant in confirming that QbraVo enables easier and faster MRI brain volume analysis than before and can be applied in actual clinical settings,” adding, “We have filed a patent for the Alzheimer's dementia and mild cognitive impairment diagnostic method using the medial temporal lobe standardized atrophy volume ratio and plan to pursue related commercialization.”

This study was published in the June issue of the international brain journal 'BRAIN IMAGING AND BEHAVIOR (IF 3.978)'.