Imaging procedures for the brain can discern both the function and the structure of the nervous system. Also known as neuroimaging, these types of exams include the newest cutting-edge techniques such as FDG brain PET/CT, Amyloid brain PET/CT, and Artificial Intelligence applications in advanced neuroimaging.
Some Brain Health Imaging Procedures Include:
A FDG brain PET/CT is used to image the metabolic function of the brain. Positron emission tomography (PET) uses small amounts of radioactive materials called radiotracers, a special camera, and a computer to help evaluate the brain. It is most commonly used to calculate the degree and pattern of brain volume loss, which allows the neuroradiologist to assess for different types of neurodementia syndromes. It can also help differentiate recurrent brain tumor vs. radiation change after a patient has had brain surgery. Additionally, it can help identify the seizure focus in patients with epilepsy.
NeuroQuant (NQ) is an artificial intelligence (AI) tool that calculates the volume of different substructures of the brain and compares those to a large normative age- and gender-matched database to determine whether the degree of brain volume loss is statistically significant for patient age. This can be used to improve the early detection of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) or other neurodementia syndromes. NeuroQuant-MS is used to calculate the volume, number, and location of plaques in patients with multiple sclerosis. The software highlights new, enlarging, or shrinking plaques. This allows for accurate tracking of disease status over time. NQ can also be used to detect the location of a seizure focus in patients with epilepsy. It is also used in brain trauma patients or to assess brain development. Neuro-Quant has both MRI and CT applications. Other NeuroQuant-based AI tools in development include volumetric quantification and characterization of brain tumors.
