Speaker
Description
The challenge of the screening and follow-up of subjects at risk of dementia is becoming of crucial importance for the sustainability of their assistance by national healthcare. Although imaging biomarkers are playing an essential role for assisting diagnosis and prognosis of dementias, several MR biomarkers are still under evaluation in terms of technical and clinical suitability. Recently introduced simultaneous PET/MR imaging offers a unique opportunity for a comprehensive collection of imaging biomarkers within the same diagnostic examination. In this work we introduce our preliminary experience after the first year of the project PM-D: Integrated PET/MR scanner as reference imaging tool in the study of dementia: technological and clinical assessment, funded by the Italian Ministry of Health. The PM-D project aims to assess the impact of the PET/MR imaging in terms of diagnostic accuracy and benefits/compliance of the patients. PET/MR data, estimated on a cohort of 100 subjects with dementia addressed to perform PET imaging, will be acquired and processed during the project. The project will deliver an imaging protocol that maximizes the trade-off between diagnostic accuracy, patient benefits and cost effectiveness.
