SYDNEY, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- Standard MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scans of a person's tongue could assist in the early detection and ongoing monitoring of Motor Neurone Disease (MND), new Australian research found.
The study found people living with MND, also known as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, who have difficulty speaking or swallowing, tend to have smaller tongue muscles, said a statement released Thursday by Australia's University of Queensland (UQ).
This could serve as an early indication of neurodegenerative disease, said Thomas Shaw, a neuroscientist and MRI researcher at UQ, who led the research published in Computers in Biology and Medicine.
"There are eight interconnected muscles in our tongues, each with a different role allowing us to eat, swallow and speak," Shaw said, adding that for someone with MND, the tongue muscles progressively weaken and waste away.
By examining more than 200 historical MRI scans using artificial intelligence and advanced imaging, the researchers were able to get precise measurements of tongue muscle volume and shape, and found significant differences between people with and without MND.
"People with lower tongue volumes had a worse prognosis," Shaw said, adding this measurement could indicate life expectancy and enable quicker diagnosis for MND patients, helping with treatment planning and faster clinical trial enrolment.
Study co-author and speech pathologist Brooke-Mai Whelan from UQ's School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences said, "When tongue function is impaired, swallowing can become dangerous and speech difficult to understand."
"People with MND report that the loss of speech is more devastating than the loss of the ability to eat, drink or walk," Whelan said, adding understanding tongue muscle loss could allow earlier, targeted interventions like voice banking to preserve natural speech. ■
