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4h ago

AI Using MRI and PET Detects Tiny Epilepsy Lesions With High Accuracy

A peer-reviewed Epilepsia study from Melbourne reports up to 94% detection in tests, prompting plans for broader hospital validation.

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Overview

  • Murdoch Children's Research Institute and The Royal Children's Hospital trained an AI detector on MRI plus FDG-PET to find focal cortical dysplasias in children and adults.
  • The study included 71 pediatric cases at RCH and 23 adult cases at Austin Hospital, with children split into training and test cohorts for validation.
  • In the pediatric test group, the model identified lesions in up to 94% of cases, after roughly 80% had been missed on prior human MRI reads.
  • Of 17 children in the test cohort, 12 underwent surgery and 11 are now seizure-free, indicating strong potential clinical benefit when lesions are localized.
  • Researchers plan real-world testing at more hospitals and are seeking funding, while experts caution that reliance on PET adds cost, limited availability, and radiation exposure.