In a message dated 1/15/2003 10:17:24 PM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> The intended applications of MEG - as far as I can see from reading > two papers on it - are in studying brain conditions rather than > individual patients. It's a powerful research tool which may for the > first time, for example, map the exact areas of the brain > affected by > various forms of dyslexia and autism. Well as to use in individual patients the proponents of MEG do hope that will have direct clinical appplications in disorders where anatomic imaging is insensitive such as post traumatic syndromes dementia and psychosis. The problem is that these are precisely the areas where PET and MRI in particular have already demonstrated exciting new results. With a technique called diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) it possible to produce detailed maps of all white matter tracks in the brain and this data can be combined with functional MR studies that detect activity in specific brain areas. So in one session lasting less than an hour one can obtain unbelievable functionally correlated anatomic maps. MEG will never be able to duplicate the fusion of anatomy and function (one variant of MEG is Magnetic Source Imaging in which MEG information is superimposed on anatomic data obtained from MR.) MR is the tool of choice for studying brain function. In our institution ADHD is a major area of research. The head of this program BJ Casey uses MR exclusively. In reality, the economics of imaging also strongly favor MR.The machines are expensive >1,000,00)and are not used continuously for research. A scanner that can do routine clinical cases can pay for itself and in essence fund research efforts _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
