Bioxydyn Ltd.

Memory functional MRI (fMRI) has been used to explore cognitive processing in people with refractory temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) to predict memory decline after anterior temporal lobe resection (ATLR). Traditional studies employed univariate analysis (UVA), focusing on isolated voxel activity in mesial temporal regions. By contrast, multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA), examines distributed activity patterns , offering deeper insight into neural networks supporting cognitive functions. MVPA allows precise mapping of individual memory encoding strategies that may influence surgical planning. Individual MVPA maps may be useful in the planning of surgical resection and trajectories for less-invasive procedures like laser interstitial thermotherapy (LiTT) to avoid critical brain regions. These may mitigate against the cognitive consequences of epilepsy surgery. We used MVPA to examine face and word encoding differences in healthy individuals and in people with TLE due to hippocampal sclerosis (HS). In healthy controls, medial temporal regions bilaterally supported face and word encoding. Lateral temporal regions were lateralized-right for faces and left for words. The fusiform gyri were involved in both tasks across all participants. HS patients showed altered encoding patterns, with reduced classifier accuracy (CA) in medial and lateral temporal regions. For face encoding, both left HS (LHS) and right HS (RHS) groups showed bilateral CA reductions in the parahippocampal gyrus (PHG), with additional hippocampal CA reduction in LHS. For word encoding, RHS patients showed CA reductions in right medial and bilateral lateral temporal regions, while LHS patients had reductions only in the left superior temporal gyrus (STG). These results highlight the bilateral network involved in memory encoding and the value of individualized cognitive mapping to prevent surgery-associated memory decline.

T 2 *-weighted oxygen-enhanced MRI (T 2 *-OE-MRI) may directly assess pulmonary ventilation using oxygen as an inhaled tracer gas. It has shown promise in healthy volunteers (HVs) and cystic fibrosis but has yet to be demonstrated in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

To determine the feasibility and repeatability of T 2 *-OE-MRI in patients with COPD. To assess correlations between T 2 *-OE-MRI measurements of pulmonary ventilation, pulmonary function tests (PFTs) and measures of functional limitation.

13 patients with mild-to-severe COPD and 13 HVs underwent PFTs, lung clearance index (LCI) measurement, incremental exercise test (patients only) and two lung MRI scans at 3 T. For T 2 *-OE-MRI, participants were fitted with a non-rebreathing face mask and given 100% oxygen during image acquisition.

Patients (age: 63 (55–72) years, forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV 1 ): 63 (36–79) %predicted, median (IQR)) had evidence of pulmonary gas trapping, small airway disease (SAD) and ventilation heterogeneity. During T 2 *-OE-MRI, the magnitude of the percentage difference between mean signal intensity at normoxia and hyperoxia (percent signal enhancement (PSE)) and the enhancing fraction (EF) were lower in patients versus HVs (2.77 (2.19–4.19) vs 5.34 (4.33–5.61) % and 0.74 (0.66–0.77) vs 0.89 (0.82–0.94), respectively, both p<0.001). Intraclass correlation coefficient values indicated moderate (0.74) and good (0.80) repeatability for PSE and EF, respectively. PSE and EF significantly correlated with FEV 1 , LCI and SAD indices, and in COPD, they correlated with measures of exercise capacity, dynamic hyperinflation and dyspnoea intensity during exercise.

In patients with COPD, T 2 *-OE-MRI is feasible and repeatable and provides regional information on pulmonary ventilation that is linked with physiological measures of disease severity, functional limitation and exertional dyspnoea.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is crucial for dementia diagnosis and a pre‐requisite for amyloid‐lowering therapies in Alzheimer's disease. Despite guidelines, many patients never undergo MRI due to limited scanner availability. Shorter scan times would reduce costs and patient burden. We developed and tested a fast MRI protocol incorporating highly accelerated sequences.

We compared blinded neuroradiologist assessments of a fast protocol with the standard‐of‐care protocol in a prospective real‐world study. We estimated agreement coefficients to evaluate reliability.

The fast protocol cut scan times by 63% and showed non‐inferior reliability measures for diagnosis, visual scale ratings, and disease‐modifying therapy eligibility assessment. Between scan‐type, intra‐rater reliability for diagnosis was greater than inter‐rater reliability on the standard‐of‐care protocol (ratio of 1.37, 95% confidence interval: 1.21–1.58).

This study proposed and applied a way of showing non‐inferiority of a highly accelerated dementia protocol. Ultra‐fast protocols could improve MRI access and patient equity and support the implementation of disease‐modifying therapies.

The fast dementia protocol with four core sequences reduced acquisition time by 63%.The fast scan showed non‐inferior reliability for diagnosis and visual ratings.Assessment for disease‐modifying therapy eligibility was similar between scan types.Fast protocols may improve access to magnetic resonance imaging and diagnosis in dementia.