The University of Manchester's Wolfson Molecular Imaging Centre will carry out its first positron emission tomography (PET) brain scan on a patient volunteer this Friday (24 November 2006) at 10.00.
The £22million Centre houses amongst the world's most advanced brain and body scanners, and its High Resolution Research Tomograph (HRRT) brain scanner is unique in the UK and one of only 14 worldwide. It is the highest resolution clinical PET camera in the world and, unlike conventional MRI and CT scanners, allows doctors and researchers to see how the brain functions and its metabolism at work.
After five years' development, the Centre's team has now achieved the stringent regulatory standards necessary to allow operational activities to begin. A 77 year-old former RAF pilot and air traffic controller from Bowden in Cheshire has volunteered to be the first patient through the brain scanner, as part of a study of early Alzheimer's Disease (AD).
Researcher Stephen Carter of the School of Psychological Sciences is investigating the transition from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to early AD, as MCI is often considered a precursor of Alzheimer's.
He will examine the physiological factors and mental processes at work during this transition, and hopes to determine whether reduced consumption of glucose in the brain is more closely linked to cognitive impairment than the deposition of the protein amyloid, which many believe to be the cause of AD.
The high-tech scans will also allow him to assess whether changes in connectivity between the part of the brain responsible for memory - the medial temporal lobe - and associated areas correlate with these types of cognitive dysfunction.
He said, "It is of significant clinical importance to be able to detect the early changes associated with Alzheimer's Disease and thereby enable more accurate diagnosis, as by the time dementia is currently diagnosed significant and irreversible brain damage has typically already taken place.
"Early detection could identify possible candidates for future clinical drug trials before large-scale global damage has occurred, which is essential for beneficial effects.