A “super scanner” has arrived in Spain that will help research Alzheimer’s disease

Today, the Center for Neurological Diseases Research (CIEN) has a new magnetic resonance scanner that doubles the power of existing ones, achieving resolution that will make it possible to detect changes in the brain tissue of people with pathologies such as Alzheimer’s disease that could not be detected until now. “We hope and believe that with the help of MRI we will be able to identify changes in brain tissue that were previously impossible,” he said. Michelle Grote, Head of Neuroimaging CIEN, during the presentation of Magnetom Cima.X, of which Spain acquired the first unit in all of Europe, according to Efe.

This is the first 3 Tesla MRI machine. dedicated exclusively to research and that, thanks to its power and other artificial intelligence tools and algorithms, they achieve much clearer images, full of detail and free of the noise that elements such as blood flow can introduce. All this will contribute to the discovery of the microstructural and functional characteristics of neurons in order to subsequently associate them with various pathologies.

Although its use is currently limited to clinical trials, Grote has no doubt that “In the short to medium term” it will reach hospitals, which will mean for the diagnosis of this type of disease.

brain bank

Reina Sofia Foundation purchased this machine developed by Siemens, the cost of which is approx. 3 million euros, “thanks to the generosity of so many collaborations,” said its secretary, José Luis Nogueira. Neuroimaging experts have been testing it for a month and are finalizing details to begin using it in several research projects; one of them will be to ensure continuity WARS Initiative is aimed at obtaining multidisciplinary data (psychological, medical, functional, neuroimaging, biochemical, genetic, neuropathological) on moderate and late stages of Alzheimer’s disease in inpatients.

The project includes a program brain donation seek treatment for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ALS or multiple sclerosis, among others.

CIEN Foundation scientists have another advantage: in addition to working with residents of the medical center of the city. Alzheimer’s patients from the Queen Sofia Foundation, They also do this with brain bank samples that he is there and that It has more than 800 research bodies.

In addition to the VARS project, the researchers are planning to launch two more projects in which they will be able to use this new tool. The first is SCAP-AD (Cognitive Screening and Personalized Approach to the Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementias). detect cases of Alzheimer’s disease in the early stages. The CIEN Foundation is currently at full stage recruitment of volunteers, which must meet a number of requirements: be over 60 years of age, have no diagnosed dementia, and do not suffer from claustrophobia. In just 3 hours, all they have to do is complete a digital test, blood and sample collection, and an MRI.

Another project focuses on frontotemporal dementia, the third most common cause of neurodegenerative dementia in our community after Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia, but second in people under 65 years of age.