Despite the fact that functional MRI was discovered in the early 90’s, scientific research related to its clinical applications is still at an early stage. The first paper on the use of functional MRI (fMRI) in Alzheimer’s disease came out as late as 1999. Today, fMRI is being intensively studied in a number of other clinical areas like dyslexia, epilepsy, mood and anxiety disorders, pain management, rehabilitation after stroke and schizophrenia. Though the application of fMRI in routine neurological practice is still some years away, already our understanding of these disorders and knowledge about mapping progression and treatment effects with fMRI is rapidly progressing. Read more →

Researchers are constantly trying to find new drugs or forms of therapy that can be used to treat cancer. Quite often when a possible treatment is discovered, being allowed to test a drug or other experimental cancer treatment at a clinical level is difficult. For example, after an anti-carcinogenic drug has been thoroughly tested at the experimental level it is necessary to test it in humans to analyze factors such as the drug’s anti-tumor activity, its ability to interact with a specific target, and to discover which patients are more likely to benefit from the drug. These types of early clinical trials are the key in the successful implementation of effective anti-tumor drugs and therapies. Read more →

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is an important imaging technique used in the medical field to diagnose many diseases and detect abnormalities in the human body non-invasively. In the neurological sense, an MRI is often performed to obtain an inner image of the brain if unusual activity is suspected. For example in the case of multiple sclerosis (MS), abnormal spots called lesions can be detected with an MRI before clinical symptoms occur. Read more →