Engineers and radiologists at Johns Hopkins have united to develop what might be one of the most useful tools in diagnostic medicine in our decade. The unique dimensions of pediatric brains make it very hard to accurately diagnose children whose brain scans show abnormalities. When a child presents symptoms that are worrisome, a brain scan is taken to pinpoint " precisely" what has been damaged in that brain. However, the science is far from accurate. Researchers have now set out to develop a data bank of pediatric brain images from tens of thousands of patients to help doctors compare the image of their current patient with previous patients presenting similar brain images or symptoms. This " Google Search Brain Bank" will allow radiologists to find previous brain images that parallel those of the patient they are currently treating, and utilize their wealth of information to produce a better informed diagnosis. Imagine if a radiologist could find a set of images from a previous patient that shows that this abnormality eventually developed into Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, or blindness? The possibility of preventing the development of a brain disease by catching it early enough to treat it might become a reality with the production of this invaluable brain bank.
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