IXICO, a global leader in neuroscience imaging and biomarker analytics, using its AI-driven platform to help advance drug development and diagnostics in neurological disorders, announces new research the Company presented at the prestigious 42nd European Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine & Biology (ESMRMB) 2026 scientific meeting this week.
The research compared two magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) approaches for visualising the substantia nigra, a brain region strongly implicated in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Two MRI techniques sensitive to neuromelanin, a dark pigment found in specific areas of the human brain associated with neurological disease including PD, were studied in healthy volunteers: magnetisation transfer gradient echo (MT-GRE) and turbo spin echo (TSE).
Both MRI techniques successfully visualised the substantia nigra, a dark-coloured cluster of neurons located in the midbrain that plays a vital role in controlling movement and coordinating reward pathways. However, the advanced MT-GRE sequence allowed consistently improved contrast between the substantia nigra and surrounding tissue. The findings provide critical inisghts for the optimisation and more reproducible assessment of neuromelanin using MRI for future PD research and clinical trials. Further research will evaluate the method’s ability to differentiate patient groups and sensitively track disease-related changes over time.
IXICO also presented a new method it has developed to measure changes in the substantia nigra without needing to precisely identify and outline the structure first. This offers potential to make the measurement simpler.
Robin Wolz, Chief Scientific Officer of IXICO, commented: “Neuromelanin MRI has significant potential as an imaging biomarker in Parkinson’s disease, but its wider use depends on robust and reproducible analysis approaches. Our work presented at ESMRMB shows that both techniques can visualise the substantia nigra, while MT-GRE provides consistently stronger contrast, and also explores an analysis framework for quantitative assessment. These findings are an important step towards optimising neuromelanin MRI for use in future Parkinson’s disease research and clinical trials.”
