A software that detects minute changes in the brain associated with multiple sclerosis, brain tumors and other disorders was developed by scientists at Royal Melbourne Hospital, says a study published in the American Journal of Radiology.

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Hospital director of research Frank Gaillard said that it is very important to find a right treatment for multiple sclerosis. In order to devise a treatment plan one has to look into hundreds of scans, compare the scans taken in the past with the present to detect the new lesions, added Galliard, according to News.

"It's similar to having a couple of Dalmatians running around and trying to spot if either of them has an extra dot or not," said Galliard. He noted about the accuracy of the technology they developed that "instead of having to look at 200 lesions and identify one that might be new ... your attention is drawn to the one that wasn't present before," he said.

The new software which has high accuracy compares the current scan with the one taken in the past, manipulate the differences, detect and highlight the areas that have undergone changes for the attention of the doctors. When brain scans of 161 patients were reviewed with the new technology by the researcher to test its accuracy it was found that 25 percent of the patients that were thought to be stable had developed new lesions, reported Herald Sun.

"What we do now is put the scans side by side and compare them visually - essentially, we are playing 'spot the difference' with scans that don't match up," said Galliard. The investigator also added, "The job of the radiologist, instead of being one trying to identify the lesions, is ... to use our normal clinical skills in assessing whether that lesion is actually a demyelinating lesion or caused by something else."

It is reported in the study that the knowledge of prevalence of new lesions would definitely have prompted 80 percent of the doctors to alter the treatment provided to the patients. Royal Melbourne Hospital neurologist Dr Anneka van der Walt said that it is important to detect new lesions because they are the indicators of the effectiveness of the administered drug as well as to know the exact condition and long-term outcome of the disease in patients. 

TagsBrain Scan, Multiple Sclerosis, Lesions, brain tumor, Radiology