Dementia diagnosis trial planned

New medical technology that is said to slash the time it takes to diagnose dementia from 18 months to just three is to be tested in a UK Government-backed trial, it was announced Monday. Scientists developing the cutting-edge process say in a new report it will double the current diagnosis rates if rolled out nationally, giving hundreds of thousands of sufferers better support and care. The new digital diagnosis system, which will be piloted on 200 patients at two "brain health centres" in England early next year, combines computer-based tests of memory and thinking with computerised analysis of MRI brain scans. Under the process, GPs carry out initial memory tests using iPad-compatible software that differentiates between patients with normal and abnormal memory in ten minutes. Those who need further investigation are then sent to a specialist brain health centre where brain scans and more detailed computer tests are carried out using a specially-designed programme. The scientists say that if deployed nationally, the technology will raise diagnosis rates close to Prime Minister David Cameron's target of 80% - a doubling of the current average. More than 400,000 people in the UK are suffering from dementia but are denied the care and support they need because their condition is undiagnosed, according to the Alzheimer's Society. The Prime Minister is expected to announce the launch of the pilot scheme at an event later this week, according to reports. The project has been awarded a 1.8 million pounds grant from Biomedical Catalyst, a Government-funded programme operated by the Medical Research Council and the Technology Strategy Board. Professor Alistair Burns, the national clinical director for dementia, said "I am very impressed by the brain health centre project which has the real potential to contribute to making the UK a world leader in dementia care by raising diagnosis rates - a key ambition of the Prime Minister's Dementia Challenge. "Combining innovative technologies in this way should help us to spot early signs of dementia, giving us time to offer patients better support and care." The illness affects one in three people over 65 years old here, with current figures showing 670,000 people have dementia in England. But this number is set to double in the next 30 years. David Cameron has pledged to double funding into dementia by 2015 and establish the UK as the world leader in dementia research.