Mayo Clinic researchers have developed a brand new synthetic intelligence (AI) device that helps clinicians establish mind exercise patterns linked to 9 varieties of dementia, together with Alzheimer’s illness, utilizing a single, extensively out there scan—a transformative advance in early, correct analysis.
The device, StateViewer, helped researchers establish the dementia kind in 88% of circumstances, based on analysis printed on-line on June 27, 2025, in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. It additionally enabled clinicians to interpret mind scans practically twice as quick and with as much as 3 times better accuracy than normal workflows. Researchers skilled and examined the AI on greater than 3,600 scans, together with photos from sufferers with dementia and other people with out cognitive impairment.
This innovation addresses a core problem in dementia care: figuring out the illness early and exactly, even when a number of circumstances are current. As new remedies emerge, well timed analysis helps match sufferers with essentially the most applicable care when it might have the best affect. The device might convey superior diagnostic help to clinics that lack neurology experience.
The rising toll of dementia
Dementia impacts greater than 55 million individuals worldwide, with practically 10 million new circumstances annually. Alzheimer’s illness, the commonest kind, is now the fifth-leading reason for demise globally. Diagnosing dementia usually requires cognitive checks, blood attracts, imaging, scientific interviews and specialist referrals. Even with intensive testing, distinguishing circumstances akin to Alzheimer’s, Lewy physique dementia and frontotemporal dementia stays difficult, together with for extremely skilled specialists.
StateViewer was developed underneath the route of David Jones, M.D., a Mayo Clinic neurologist and director of the Mayo Clinic Neurology Synthetic Intelligence Program.
“Each affected person who walks into my clinic carries a novel story formed by the mind’s complexity,” Dr. Jones says. “That complexity drew me to neurology and continues to drive my dedication to clearer solutions. StateViewer displays that dedication—a step towards earlier understanding, extra exact therapy and, in the future, altering the course of those illnesses.”
To convey that imaginative and prescient to life, Dr. Jones labored alongside Leland Barnard, Ph.D., an information scientist who leads the AI engineering behind StateViewer.
“As we have been designing StateViewer, we by no means overlooked the truth that behind each information level and mind scan was an individual going through a tough analysis and pressing questions,” Dr. Barnard says. “Seeing how this device might help physicians with real-time, exact insights and steering highlights the potential of machine studying for scientific drugs.”
Turning mind patterns into scientific perception
The device analyzes a fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) scan, which reveals how the mind makes use of glucose for vitality. It then compares the scan to a big database of scans from individuals with confirmed dementia diagnoses and identifies patterns that match particular sorts, or mixtures, of dementia.
Alzheimer’s usually impacts reminiscence and processing areas, Lewy physique dementia includes areas tied to consideration and motion, and frontotemporal dementia alters areas chargeable for language and conduct. StateViewer shows these patterns by way of color-coded mind maps that spotlight key areas of mind exercise, giving all clinicians, even these with out neurology coaching, a visible rationalization of what the AI sees and the way it helps the analysis.
Mayo Clinic researchers plan to broaden the device’s use and can proceed evaluating its efficiency in quite a lot of scientific settings.
Extra data: Leland Barnard et al, An FDG-PET–Primarily based Machine Studying Framework to Assist Neurologic Resolution-Making in Alzheimer Illness and Associated Issues, Neurology (2025). DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000213831
