We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies. Cookie Policy.

MedImaging

Download Mobile App
Recent News Radiography MRI Ultrasound Nuclear Medicine General/Advanced Imaging Imaging IT Industry News

MRI and Automated Surface Mesh Modeling Analysis Reveal Changes in Brain Anatomy in Women with Multiple Sclerosis and Depression

By MedImaging International staff writers
Posted on 13 Feb 2014
Print article
Image: MS Atrophy. Brain images showing location of hippocampus and its sub-regions in the brain. Bar graph shows atrophy within these specific hippocampal subregions. Black bars represent the control group; white bars represent people with MS who are not depressed; striped bars represent people with MS and depression (Photo courtesy of University of California - Los Angeles).
Image: MS Atrophy. Brain images showing location of hippocampus and its sub-regions in the brain. Bar graph shows atrophy within these specific hippocampal subregions. Black bars represent the control group; white bars represent people with MS who are not depressed; striped bars represent people with MS and depression (Photo courtesy of University of California - Los Angeles).
A multicenter team of US investigators are using a new, automated technique to identify shrinkage of a mood-regulating brain structure in a large study sample of women with multiple sclerosis (MS), who also have a specific type of depression.

Women with MS, in the study, and symptoms of “depressive affect,” such as depressed mood and loss of interest, were found to have reduced size of the right hippocampus. The left hippocampus remained unchanged and other types of depression, such as vegetative depression, which can bring about extreme fatigue, did not correlate with hippocampal size reduction, according to an article published in the January 2014 issue of the journal Human Brain Mapping.

This new study, led by Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (Los Angeles, CA, USA) neurologist Nancy Sicotte, MD, an expert in multiple sclerosis (MS) and cutting-edge imaging techniques, confirms earlier research suggesting that the hippocampus may be a contributor to the high frequency of depression in MS. Furthermore, it also revealed that a computer imaging technique called automated surface mesh modeling can promptly identify thickness alterations in subregions of the hippocampus. Before this, the process required a labor-intensive manual analysis of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images.

Dr. Sicotte, the article’s senior author, and others have earlier found evidence of tissue loss in the hippocampus, however, the changes could only be validated in manual tracings of a set of special high-resolution MRI images. The new application can use more easily obtainable MRI scans and it automates the brain mapping process. “Patients with medical disorder and in particular, those with inflammatory diseases such as MS, often suffer from depression, which can cause fatigue. But not all fatigue is caused by depression. We believe that while fatigue and depression often co-occur in patients with MS, they may be brought about by different biological mechanisms. Our studies are designed to help us better understand how MS-related depression differs from other types, improve diagnostic imaging systems to make them more widely available and efficient, and create better, more individualized treatments for our patients,” said Dr. Sicotte, director of Cedars-Sinai’s Multiple Sclerosis Program and the Neurology Residency Program.

Related Links:

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center


Portable Color Doppler Ultrasound System
S5000
Digital X-Ray Detector Panel
Acuity G4
New
Ultrasound Needle Guide
Ultra-Pro 3
Radiology Software
DxWorks

Print article

Channels

Ultrasound

view channel
Image: Oloid-shaped magnetic endoscope (Photo courtesy of STORM Lab/University of Leeds)

Tiny Magnetic Robot Takes 3D Scans from Deep Within Body

Colorectal cancer ranks as one of the leading causes of cancer-related mortality worldwide. However, when detected early, it is highly treatable. Now, a new minimally invasive technique could significantly... Read more

Imaging IT

view channel
Image: The new Medical Imaging Suite makes healthcare imaging data more accessible, interoperable and useful (Photo courtesy of Google Cloud)

New Google Cloud Medical Imaging Suite Makes Imaging Healthcare Data More Accessible

Medical imaging is a critical tool used to diagnose patients, and there are billions of medical images scanned globally each year. Imaging data accounts for about 90% of all healthcare data1 and, until... Read more