Researchers are analyzing brain scans with AI to predict dementia risks

In an effort to develop software to forecast dementia predication in a person, scientists and researchers will be analyzing hundreds of thousands of brain images.

Twenty specialists will use AI brain scans to analyze CT and MRI scan data, as well as information from medical records, to look for trends that might point to dementia risk and the propensity to worsen.

The team wants to develop a computerized tool that radiologists may use to scan patients and identify early signs of disorders associated with dementia and dementia risk.

They think that separating out a patient population at high risk of dementia will make it possible to create more targeted therapies for different forms of dementia, such as Alzheimer's.

The group, which is a member of the global research cooperation NEURii, was formed a year ago and consists of data scientists and clinical researchers from the universities of Dundee and Edinburgh.

During the research, they want to analyze up to 1.6 million photos, which they are utilizing with permission from NHS Scotland's Public Benefit and Privacy Panel for Health and Social Care.

The Scottish National Safe Haven, which was hired by Public Health Scotland to offer a secure platform for the use of NHS electronic data for research, will house the data securely.

Co-leading the project is Professor Will Whiteley of the University of Edinburgh's Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences. He explained that improved use of basic brain scans to predict dementia would improve knowledge of dementia and possibly lead to an earlier diagnosis of its causes, which in turn would facilitate the development of new treatments.