MRI-to-PET synthesis via deep learning for amyloid-β quantification in Alzheimer’s disease
Question Amyloid-β (Aβ) PET limitations (high cost, radiation, limited access) hinder early Alzheimer's disease (AD) detection. Clinical practice urgently requires a suitable supplementary method for Aβ pathology assessment. Findings AI-synthesized 3D Synthetic Aβ PET from structural MRI demonstrated strong consistency with real PET and effectively triaged high-risk patients for confirmatory scans. Clinical relevance This non-invasive, cost-effective method holds the promise of enabling wider Aβ pathology screening, reduces unnecessary PET scans, and supports early intervention in resource-limited settings, while preserving diagnostic rigor for treatment decisions.
Authors
- SW Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0671-6507)
- Silun Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9973-3586)
- Fang Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5971-2622)
- Zhifeng Qi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4709-1750)
- X Li
- Huanhui Xiao
- S Q Yan
- Y H Shan
- Zhigeng Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1675-5606)
- Zhigang Qi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-8265-1820)
- Bixiao Cui
- Yanru Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8272-2450)
- for the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative
- Tao Wang
- Ying Han
- Jie Lu
- Sheng Bi
Institutions
- Hebei Medical University (CN)
- Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China (CN)
- Capital Medical University (CN)
- Huawei Technologies (China) (CN)
- Imaging, Brain, and Neuropsychiatry (FR)
- Ministry of Education (SA)
- First Affiliated Hospital of Hebei Medical University (CN)
- Nanjing Medical University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- European Radiology
- Published
- 2026-01-07
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-025-12251-3
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 33.12
Funders
- U.S. Department of Defense
- Alzheimer's Association
- Bristol-Myers Squibb
- Eli Lilly and Company
- Pfizer
- Biogen
- University of Southern California
- Meso Scale Diagnostics
- Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative
- BioClinica
- Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation
- Northern California Institute for Research and Education
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Eisai
- Servier
- H. Lundbeck A/S
- IXICO
- National Institutes of Health
- Genentech
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research