The AIM-listed neuroscience analytics company presented data showing its automated platform could replace labour-intensive manual methods in clinical trials
IXICO PLC (LSE:IXI, OTC:PHYOF, FRA:PYPB), the London-listed neuroscience imaging company, has published data showing that its artificial intelligence-driven platform can measure brain shrinkage at least as accurately as methods requiring analysis by human experts.
The company said automated tools within its IXI platform matched or exceeded the performance of the Boundary Shift Integral (BSI), a semi-manual technique widely considered the gold standard for measuring brain volume loss on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans.
Brain atrophy, the gradual loss of brain cells and the connections between them, is a key marker in the development of treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, including Huntington's disease.
The study, conducted with an unnamed large US pharmaceutical partner, evaluated three approaches to measuring brain shrinkage.
IXICO said its platform proved the most sensitive method for detecting volume loss in both the whole brain and the caudate, a small structure deep in the brain that is affected early in Huntington's disease.
The findings were presented in a scientific poster at the 21st Annual Huntington's Disease Therapeutics Conference in California this week.
Robin Wolz, IXICO's chief scientific officer, said the automated approach could reduce the operational burden of semi-manual image analysis while increasing sensitivity to changes in the brain.
He added that the technology had significant potential to shape how biomarker analysis informs the next generation of drug development programmes in neurodegenerative disease.
The ability to automate brain volume measurements could matter for clinical trials, where processing large numbers of MRI scans manually is both costly and time-consuming.
IXICO, which trades on AIM under the ticker IXI, positions itself as a specialist in providing imaging analytics services to pharmaceutical companies running neurological drug trials.