French researchers will test new medical imaging technology on infant brains next year, hoping to diagnose cases of autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) much sooner, the project’s promoters said on Monday.
A crucial precocity
As simple to use and non-invasive as an ultrasound, this new device can detect minute variations in blood circulation and thus in nerve cell activity. It could make it possible to map the areas of the brain whose functioning seems abnormal, and thus lead to a very early diagnosis of autism or ODD, neurobiologist Pierre Gressens, a researcher at Inserm and deputy director of the scientific interest group (GIS) “autism and TND”.
However, in terms of research on autism, “a piece of data makes a consensus, it is the importance of diagnosis as early as possible”, which allows more effective care, emphasizes Claire Compagnon, interministerial delegate of the national strategy “Autism and ODD” .
In recent years, the average age of diagnosis has decreased: “Today it is less than five years, but it is still too much”, says Claire Compagnon. For Catherine Barthélémy, child psychiatrist and director of the GIS, “the ideal would be to intervene before six months or a year”.
Already tested on mice
Marketed by French start-up Iconeus, the new medical imaging device uses technologies developed by researchers at Inserm and CNRS. An MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) exam would give almost similar results, but requires placing the young patient inside the device, which is hard to imagine for a simple newborn screening.
Easier to use and less expensive, the Iconeus device has been tested on mice: By placing a probe on the rodents’ heads, scientists showed which areas of their brains were called on when their whiskers were touched.
Second stage between 2023 and 2026
In early 2023, the operation of the device will be tested on a few dozen babies at the Robert-Debré hospital in Paris. Doctors will compare brain images obtained from children born at term with those from children born prematurely; the latter are considered to be at higher risk of having autism.
The researchers will then move on to a second stage, between 2023 and 2026: several hundred babies will undergo this new imaging test, and then they will be followed for several years to determine if the abnormal signs that may be visible in the Brain imaging will be corroborated by the usual autism diagnostic methods.
Source: BFM TV
