Almost one million people in the UK live with dementia, with an associated economic cost estimated at £25 billion in 2021.
FSL-clinical is a comprehensive library of analysis tools for neuroimaging developed by scientists at the Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging (WIN), into a user-friendly platform for routine clinical use. A research team in Oxford is looking to leverage FSL to extract quantitative data of brain structures to support dementia diagnosis. FSL can quantify individual brain volumes, which can be compared to big datasets, such as UK Biobank for a healthy, age-specific reference population. This can support neuroradiologists in interpreting the severity and distribution of brain atrophy in people with suspected dementia.
HIOTV performed a barrier to adoption study using the lean assessment process methodology and engaged with key stakeholders working in the dementia diagnosis pathway to gain insights into the perceived usefulness, potential clinical benefits, acceptability and barriers to adoption of FSL for this clinical need.
Stakeholders interviewed were very positive about having analysis software to provide quantitative data of brain structures from MRI scans in the dementia diagnosis pathway. One of the key perceived benefits was that it would increase diagnostic confidence and enable better monitoring of the subtle changes in brain volume caused by disease progression. Stakeholders agreed that FSL outputs had the potential to reduce variation and subjectivity compared to existing measures.
