Special light may detect Parkinson’s

London, February 15: Scientists from Keele University in Staffordshire have found a way of using intense light to detect the early stages of Parkinson's disease in the brains of sufferers.

Dr Joanna Collingwood disclosed that the researchers have been using a synchrotron or Diamond Light Source (DLS) at Harwell, Oxford shire, to observe the iron levels in an individual brain cells, which are an indicator of the disease.

She said, "Our studies at Diamond involve a technique called microfocus spectroscopy, in which powerful, tightly focused beams of X-rays penetrate our tissue samples.”

Clarifying further, she stated that the synchrotron - or Diamond Light Source - is a vast doughnut-shaped particle accelerator, the size of five football pitches. Researchers used the accelerator that produces a finely focused x-ray beam to examine individual brain cells of those who had died of Parkinson's for a buildup of iron.

The accelerator illuminates the site by firing particles at the speed of light, focusing them into a beam with a diameter less than that of a single cell. By studying the tissue as a whole, it has been possible to map metal distribution throughout the brain region minutely. The unique technique using the beam provides information about the iron levels and the form in which it is stored.

Speaking at the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference in Chicago, Dr Collingwood explained that the distribution of metal ions in the brain tissue of sufferers was altered by the disease process.

She added, "The technique is pioneering in that it does not change the distribution or form of the metals in the tissue being studied. To move this research on into the clinical arena, we need to determine how much the contrast change seen by clinicians in the MRIdefine scan results is directly due to changes in iron distribution and form. Improving our understanding of the biochemical aspects of the disease should in the long term contribute to improved therapeutic approaches and also provide potential openings for early MRI detection and diagnosis.”