科学家正在测试一种人工智能系统，据信，仅需进行一次脑部扫描，即可诊断出失智症。该系统还有可能可以预测患者病情是会持续多年保持稳定、缓慢恶化，还是需要立即接受治疗。

 

Currently, it can take several scans and numerous tests over months or even years to diagnose dementia, but this new artificial-intelligence system might be able to identify dementia after just one brain scan.

目前，人们需要在数月甚至数年间进行多次扫描和大量测试才能诊断出失智症，但这种新的人工智能系统可能只需一次脑部扫描就能识别这一疾病。

 

It compares the scans of those who are concerned they might have dementia with those of thousands of patients who are confirmed to have the condition and their relevant medical records. An algorithm then identifies patterns in the scans that even expert neurologists can't see.  

该系统将那些担心自己可能患病的人的扫描结果，与数千名失智症患者的扫描结果以及相关病历进行比较。然后，一种算法会在扫描结果中识别出连神经科专家都无法看出的固定模式。

 

In preclinical tests, it's been able to diagnose dementia years before symptoms develop, even when there's no obvious signs of damage on the brain scan. It's now being tested at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge to see if it works as well in a clinical setting as it has in the lab.

在临床前测试中，即使脑部扫描没有明显损伤的迹象，该系统也能在症状出现的数年前诊断出失智症。现在，这种技术正在剑桥阿登布鲁克医院进行测试，以观察它在临床环境中是否像在实验室中一样有效。