Partners and International Organizations
(English)
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University of Kent at Canterbury, University of Oxford, INRIA Sophia Antipolis, Katholicke Universiteit Leuven, ETH Zürich
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Abstract
(English)
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The research project BIOMORPH funded within the EC's BIOMED-2 activity potentially has important implications for the treatment of neurological diseases and our understanding of the human brain, with obvious benefits for society and potential spin-offs for the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry.
Understanding the brain may be the only way to solve some of the social, medical and educational problems that impair the lives of European citizens, such as drug abuse, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, stroke, epilepsy, mental retardation, dyslexia, language learning, etc. The ultimate aim is to develop new or improved diagnostic, preventive and therapeutic approaches for neurological and mental disorders.
BIOMORPH is using magnetic resonance imaging to understand brain disease in order to improve diagnosis and treatment, with focus on schizophrenia and multiple sclerosis. Five European laboratories are improving a technique, known as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), for early detection of the onset and progression of brain diseases. It should also help in evaluating the response to treatment and in developing new therapies. The research involves a close collaboration between clinical neurologists, computer and image processing specialists and MRI experts.
We have developed new advanced image processing techniques for measuring the size and shape of brain structures on MRI scans and are successfully using their new approach on large groups of patients. In multiple sclerosis, they can now easily quantify the development of brain lesions and follow their evolution over time. The technique produces a coloured map that shows the position and age of individual plaques. This permits detailed evaluation of the disease in a given patient. For example, the age at which disease plaques first appear or disappear can be readily determined. The technique also improves the ability to evaluate the efficacy of new drug treatments, by looking at changes in number and volume of plaques over time. In patients with schizophrenia, the researchers have found significant changes in the shape of certain brain structures, particularly in the left-right asymmetries of the cerebral hemispheres, which have important implications for understanding the fundamental mechanisms of the disease.
This interdisciplinary research project is making an important contribution to the further development of MRI technology as a weapon against brain diseases.
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