# AI-Enhanced Brain PET Imaging for Alzheimer's Disease

> **NIH NIH R56** · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · 2023 · $776,426

## Abstract

Abstract
Brain PET imaging has fundamentally advanced our understanding of the
pathophysiology and progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the
full value of this imaging modality is not realized due to issues around
radiotracer dose, cost, and logistics. We believe artificial intelligence (AI)
derived methods can significantly impact PET imaging in a way that makes it
much more useful for molecular imaging of dementia.
The goal of this project is to develop and test convolutional neural network
approaches to improve the quality of brain PET imaging for two commonly
used radiotracers (amyloid and tau) for dementia. We will use this to
significantly reduce radiotracer dose by several orders of magnitude, freeing up
PET for use in non-elderly cohorts and at repeated timepoints to better
understand the early presence and subsequent progression of disease. We will
also show how this new capability can enable novel paradigms for multi-tracer,
single-session PET imaging.
Successful completion of this study will result in validation of AI techniques for
ultra-low dose PET imaging and a demonstration of how this capability can be
harnessed to improve future brain molecular imaging studies to better
understand the pathophysiology of AD. As such, it will provide solid, evidence-
based recommendations for future clinical and research evaluation in patients
with or at high risk of dementia.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10691406
- **Project number:** 5R56AG071558-02
- **Recipient organization:** STANFORD UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Gregory George Zaharchuk
- **Activity code:** R56 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $776,426
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-09-01 → 2026-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10691406

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10691406, AI-Enhanced Brain PET Imaging for Alzheimer's Disease (5R56AG071558-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10691406. Licensed CC0.

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