Innovation and Improvement

3T Imaging System

Using psychiatric neuroimaging data to improve the diagnosis and prognosis of mental illness

Steve Williams, Professor of Imaging Sciences at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience King’s College London, and Founder and Co-director of the Centre for Neuroimaging Sciences, was awarded over £1 million by the Maudsley Charity towards a new 3T imaging system that collects and uses psychiatric neuroimaging data to improve the diagnosis and prognosis of mental illness.

A gold standard in 3T imaging systems

Based in the Centre for Neuroimaging Sciences at Maudsley Hospital, the 3T imaging system will continue the Centre’s pioneering work in designing and delivering new diagnostic and prognostic markers for mental illness.

The new imaging-based biomarkers have a greater than 90% accuracy for the diagnosis of autism, 85% specificity for the diagnosis of major depression and 80% sensitivity in the prediction of response to conventional antidepressant medication.

Data will be an important international resource

Professor Williams says: “It is our aspiration that psychiatry patients and subjects at risk of mental illness will be benchmarked against this organic database. We expect our data to become an important, international resource for reference … that we believe will become the new gold standard in psychiatric neuroimaging.”

The Centre for Neuroimaging Sciences is a joint venture between King’s College London, and the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.