Summary
There is a larger potential benefit from the use of amyloid imaging. Of course refining diagnosis is important. But research involving drugs in development, particularly vaccines, relies on the measurement of amyloid in the brain. To some degree this can be done by looking at spinal fluid, but brain imaging is much less invasive and better tolerated.
Analysis
There is a race to develop a vaccine for Alzheimer's. These focus on the ability to prevent amyloid formation and/or to rid the brain of amyloid that is already present. Brain imaging is the best way to assess the amount of amyloid in the brain. So the ability to do this is of great interest to all pharmaceutical companies involved in the development of drugs for the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's. Given the numbers of patients involved in these trials, this will be a heavily used medium. And, of course, given the aging of the population, imaging will also be heavily used to aid in refining diagnosis.
