Emeritus Professor Graeme Bydder with Mātai charge technologist Paul Condron seeing UHC MRI in action for the first time. Photo / Mātai Medical Research Institute
Emeritus Professor Graeme Bydder with Mātai charge technologist Paul Condron seeing UHC MRI in action for the first time. Photo / Mātai Medical Research Institute
Researchers from Mātai Medical Research Institute in Gisborne are helping develop a new MRI scan method, which they say can detect subtle brain lesions in multiple sclerosis patients not seen on current state-of-the-art scans.
According to a recent journal paper published in a special issue of Recent Advances in MRIof Multiple Sclerosis, the new method offers10 times more contrast, which could enable earlier detection and precise monitoring of multiple sclerosis (MS).
Paul Condron, Mātai charge technologist and one of those who worked on the paper, said the new method was likely to significantly improve how doctors detect and monitor MS, including progressive disease.
He said the first study demonstrating the use of MRI in MS was published in 1981 by a team from the Royal Postgraduate Medical School (UK), including Professor Graeme Bydder.
More than 40 years later, Professor Bydder was continuing his pioneering work on the use of MRI in MS at Mātai.
“Our findings using ultra-high contrast [UHC] MRI surpass standard MRI in both lesion detection and structural clarity,” Bydder said.
“This technology opens the door to earlier diagnosis, better treatment planning and potentially life-altering early interventions.
“If we can detect and treat inflammation before it leads to irreversible damage, we could significantly delay progression and reduce the long-term impact on patients and the healthcare system.”
MRI scans from a woman with MS (multiple sclerosis) in remission. In the standard scan (left), there’s a faint, blurry area in the brainstem. In the UHC-MRI scan (right), the same area appears much clearer and larger - showing how this newer imaging approach can uncover more detail than traditional methods. Image / Matai Medical Research Institute
He said the limitations of conventional MRI had long hindered the ability to detect the full scope of MS in people.
“UHC MRI not only reveals lesions that are completely invisible with current techniques, but it also gives us access to new signs of disease activity, including changes at the boundaries of lesions that could redefine how we understand progression in MS.”
UCI MRI refers to the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) facilities at the University of California, Irvine (UCI).
The new UHC MRI technique is also showing changes in tissue beyond the standard plaque assessment (protein build-up in the brain) that has been at the core of MS brain imaging.
Members of the Mātai team working on the new methods: Emeritus Professor Graeme Bydder (left), Associate Professor Samantha Holdsworth, Paul Condron and Dr Daniel Cornfeld. Photo / Mātai Medical Research Institute
A statement from Mātai Medical Research Institute said that in addition to spotting extra abnormalities in both grey and white matter, the advanced scans provided clearer images of spinal cord and optic nerve damage, which is often difficult to detect.
The scans also demonstrate widespread transient changes in brain tissue during MS flare-ups that are not seen using standard imaging methods.
“MS sufferers often experience symptoms that are difficult to explain, and this may help to understand more fully the broad range of physical, cognitive, emotional and social difficulties that patients experience,” the statement said.
“This has the potential to open the way to a broader range of treatments reflecting the MS sufferers’ lived experience.”
The ongoing research into the use of UHC MRI in MS was supported by the New Zealand Multiple Sclerosis Research Trust (NZMRST) and the JN & HB Williams Foundation, allied with local, national and international research partnerships.
An initial study will include 50 participants, to be recruited in Auckland and Tairāwhiti using clinical networks and community connections.
Some will have established MS and others with symptoms suggestive of MS will be scanned at their first presentation, to assess the sensitivity of UHC MRI in detecting very early disease.
Neil Woodhams, a spokesperson for NZMSRT, said the burden of MS could be greatly reduced if early signs of active inflammation could be seen and treatment started before irreversible damage occurs.
“The new technique also may help identify areas of persistent low-grade inflammation that underlie gradual progressive worsening, the main cause of long-term disability in MS,” Woodhams said.
“It could ultimately have a substantial influence on how MS is diagnosed and managed worldwide.”
The impact of multiple sclerosis in NZ
MS is a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) that affects millions of people worldwide.
In 2021, there were 4130 reported cases of MS in New Zealand, an increase from the 2896 cases reported from 2006. MS is a leading cause of neurological disability in young adults, with no known cure.
It is a disease that predominantly affects women 25-50 years old, and can lead to great financial and socioeconomic costs and family hardship.
The NZ Institute of Economic Research identified the annual cost of MS as $240 million in 2022, made up of $82m attributed to employment costs, $27.5m in informal care costs and $130m in healthcare costs.
Despite advances in treatment, diagnosis remains challenging, particularly for progressive MS, where low-grade disease activity continues without visible relapses or new inflammatory lesions.
