IDEAS Study (Alzheimer’s)

Princeton Radiology Participated in Largest Brain Amyloid Scan Research Study

Princeton Radiology is a registered PET imaging site for the Imaging Dementia – Evidence for Amyloid Scanning (IDEAS) study

sponsored by the Alzheimer’s Association and managed by the American College of Radiology (ACR) and American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) from February 2016 to the study’s conclusion in December 2017. Princeton Radiology offered Medicare-covered amyloid PET scans to study eligible Medicare patients who were referred by participating IDEAS dementia specialists (neurologists, psychiatrists and geriatric medicine physicians). The research study sought to determine the clinical usefulness of PET imaging of brain amyloid deposits in the diagnosis of patients who are being evaluated for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

Diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease is complex. With no single test currently available, diagnosis is based on an individual’s history, physical examination and cognitive testing. Amyloid PET imaging represents a potential major advance in the assessment of people with cognitive impairment. The scan visualizes plaques present in the brain that are prime suspects in damaging and killing nerve cells in Alzheimer’s. Before amyloid PET, these plaques could only be detected by examining the brain at autopsy. The IDEAS study gathered data from Medicare beneficiaries to determine if amyloid PET scans help physicians to make more informed treatment decisions.

For more information about the IDEAS study, visit:  http://www.ideas-study.org/