Home › Research › Brain scans and imaging
Artificial Intelligence–Powered Quantification of Flortaucipir PET for Detecting Tau Pathology
Hye Bin Yoo, Seung Kwan Kang, Seong Ah Shin, Daewoon Kim, Hongyoon Choi, Yoon‐Keun Kim, Dahyun Yi, Min Soo Byun et al.. Journal of Nuclear Medicine, 2025-09-11
Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models
The AI-powered pipeline achieved robust performance with intraclass correlation coefficients exceeding 0.97 for regional uptake estimation compared with MR-based ground truth. We also showed that the tau deposition in metatemporal regions was significantly correlated with Mini-Mental State Examination and Montreal Cognitive Assessment scores. Elevated tau PET uptake in the entorhinal cortex and inferior temporal gyrus predicted future cognitive decline. The proposed AI-powered pipeline enhances the clinical accessibility of tau PET by reducing scan costs and streamlining the uptake quantification, achieving high performance without requiring structural MR. We further demonstrated that the pipeline yields cognitively relevant outcome measures for early diagnosis and monitoring of AD progression to aid more personalized treatment strategies targeting AD biomarkers.
Key findings
- The AI-powered pipeline achieved robust performance with intraclass correlation coefficients exceeding 0.97 for regional uptake estimation compared with MR-based ground truth.
- We also showed that the tau deposition in metatemporal regions was significantly correlated with Mini-Mental State Examination and Montreal Cognitive Assessment scores.
- Elevated tau PET uptake in the entorhinal cortex and inferior temporal gyrus predicted future cognitive decline.
- The proposed AI-powered pipeline enhances the clinical accessibility of tau PET by reducing scan costs and streamlining the uptake quantification, achieving high performance without requiring structural MR.
- We further demonstrated that the pipeline yields cognitively relevant outcome measures for early diagnosis and monitoring of AD progression to aid more personalized treatment strategies targeting AD biomarkers.
Why it matters
An AI pipeline quantified flortaucipir tau-PET uptake without needing structural MRI, with high agreement to MR-based measures, and elevated uptake in the entorhinal cortex and inferior temporal gyrus predicted future cognitive decline. This is a diagnostic and monitoring tool, not a treatment, cure, or prevention.
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Brain scans & tests →
Study details
- Study designlongitudinal study
- Participants666
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 50/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a longitudinal study following the same people over time. Scored zero for effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Journal of Nuclear Medicine) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | Journal of Nuclear Medicine: journal h-index 230 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 7 / 12 | A longitudinal study following the same people over time |
| Strength of evidence | 3 / 5 | Rated “moderate” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 4 / 5 | 2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 666 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 1 / 7 | Cited 2 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 0 / 5 | 0.7 citations a year over 3 year(s) since 2025 |
| Impact for its field and year | 2 / 6 | Cited 1.3× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 1 / 6 | Cited by 1 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 0 / 4 | Cited 2 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 1 / 4 | Last-listed author Jae-Sung Lee: h-index 12 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | Seoul National University: institution h-index 1,053 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 4 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 40935607) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 50 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.2967/jnumed.125.269636
- PubMed: 40935607
- Original source →
- Free full text: Journal of Nuclear Medicine →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Yoo, H. B., Kang, S. K., Shin, S. A., Kim, D., Choi, H., Kim, Y., et al. (2025). Artificial Intelligence–Powered Quantification of Flortaucipir PET for Detecting Tau Pathology. Journal of Nuclear Medicine. https://doi.org/10.2967/jnumed.125.269636
Vancouver
Yoo HB, Kang SK, Shin SA, Kim D, Choi H, Kim Y, et al. Artificial Intelligence–Powered Quantification of Flortaucipir PET for Detecting Tau Pathology. Journal of Nuclear Medicine. 2025. doi:10.2967/jnumed.125.269636. PMID: 40935607.
BibTeX
@article{yoo2025-40935607,
author = {Yoo, Hye Bin and Kang, Seung Kwan and Shin, Seong Ah and Kim, Daewoon and Choi, Hongyoon and Kim, Yoon‐Keun and Yi, Dahyun and Byun, Min Soo and others},
title = {{Artificial Intelligence–Powered Quantification of Flortaucipir PET for Detecting Tau Pathology}},
journal = {Journal of Nuclear Medicine},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.2967/jnumed.125.269636},
pmid = {40935607},
url = {https://doi.org/10.2967/jnumed.125.269636}
}
Studies this one cites
Referenced by this study and also in the alzhub library, so you can read them here. Showing 12 of 16.
Later studies that cite this one
1 study in the alzhub library lists this one in its references.
Related studies in Brain scans and imaging
Also tagged “phosphorylated”
732 studies in the library carry the topic tag “phosphorylated”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 732 tagged studies.