Faster MRI scans could help end dementia diagnosis ‘postcode lottery’

Faster MRI scans could help end the “postcode lottery” of dementia diagnosis by cutting costs and making the scans more widely available, a study has suggested.

Brain scans help diagnose dementia alongside memory tests and blood tests, but because MRI scans are expensive, very few patients are offered them.

Researchers at University College London (UCL) have developed a way of running the brain scans to achieve the same results in a third of the time - potentially doubling the number of dementia scans able to be done in a day and lowering the cost.

Richard Oakley, associate director of research and innovation at Alzheimer’s Society, said: “While MRIs aren’t the only way to diagnose dementia, very few people with concerns about their cognitive health are offered one as part of the diagnosis process, mainly because they are expensive and not widely available.

“These faster MRIs, which take less than half the time of standard scans, could help end this postcode lottery in dementia diagnosis, cut costs and potentially give more people access to them.”

Professor Nick Fox, at UCL’s Institute of Neurology, said: “As more treatments that can slow or change the course of dementia are being developed, it's important to make sure MRI scans are available to everyone. This is because people living with dementia often need an MRI scan as part of their diagnosis before they can access these treatments.

“To help make this possible, our team carried out the first study looking at how new imaging techniques - called parallel imaging - could speed up MRI scans in clinics. Their goal is to move closer to a future where every person with dementia can get a diagnosis through a scan.”

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Source: The Independent, 13 October 2025