Diagnosis of neuropsychiatric disorders using magnetic resonance imaging
This technology is a diagnostic tool that uses magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to quantify morphological changes in the brain and identify patterns consistent with specific neuropsychiatric disorders.
Unmet Need: Reliable, quantitative diagnostic platform for neuropsychiatric disorders
Over 25 percent of Americans suffer from diagnosable neuropsychiatric disorders. Unfortunately, diagnosis is based on qualitative judgment of a patient’s clinical symptoms that typically present themselves in late stages of the disorder, which frequently leads to misdiagnosis and misclassification of patients, especially those with comorbidity or other underlying conditions with similar symptoms. Although some biomarkers have been developed for detection of a few neuropsychiatric disorders, they are limited to late stages and have poor sensitivity and specificity.
The Technology: Pattern recognition software enables diagnosis of neuropsychiatric disorders from MRI images
This technology opens the door to highly accurate diagnosis of many neuropsychiatric disorders, as well as comorbidity, based solely on measuring physiology and pathology of the brain using images obtained by MRI. Changes in size and structure of brain regions, such as the amygdala and hippocampus, have long been known to be involved in neuropsychiatric disorders. This technology takes into account the spatial pattern of subtle variations in morphology simultaneously across the entire surface of many brain regions. By creating a library of the underlying morphological patterns for each neurological disorder, a patient is diagnosed by matching his or her individual pattern with those in the library. The matching of the pattern not only determines the disorder(s) a patient has, but also the brain regions and brain networks implicated in the disorder(s).
This technology has been used in several clinical studies, demonstrating a high accuracy of diagnosis (>95%) for various neuropsychiatric disorders.
Applications:
- Patient care - test results can be provided to patients
- Clinical decision support - assist clinicians in patient diagnosis by providing a second opinion
- Clinical trials - confirmed diagnosis can be used as inclusion criteria for therapeutic trials
- Early diagnosis - standard test when neurological problems are suspected
- Assess disease progression and treatment response - monitor changes in brain morphology
- Academic and pharmaceutical research - validation and quantitative assessment of results from animal models or human studies
Advantages:
- Extremely high accuracy of diagnosis for many neurological disorders, including Tourette Syndrome, Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia, and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.
- Early diagnosis and detection of comorbidity
- Provides comprehensive assessment of the brain regions and brain networks involved in a disorder
Lead Inventor:
Bradley Peterson, M.D.
Patent Information:
Related Publications:
Tech Ventures Reference:
IR 2855
Licensing Contact: Ron Katz