System and Method for Detecting Pain and Its Components Using Magnetic Resonance

Abstract

A system and method identifies different components of the pain experience (nociceptive (tissue damage), neuropathic (nerve damage) and psychological) and their relative contributions by the use of magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) to measure absolute and relative concentrations of metabolites in specific brain regions in the central nervous system or brain. The system and method can be used as a diagnostic tool for the assessment of the relative contribution of different aspects of the pain experience as well as monitoring of response to interventions directed at modifying these components.

1 .- 4 . (canceled) 
     
     
         5 . An apparatus for detecting at least one component of pain being experienced by a subject, comprising:
 a magnetic resonance spectrometer for obtaining spectroscopic data of the brain of a subject experiencing pain;   a memory device for storing reference spectroscopic data having characteristic values which correlate with and identify at least two different pain components; and   a comparator which compares the spectroscopic data obtained with the reference spectroscopic data to detect the presence of at least pain component being experienced by the subject.   
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the at least two different pain components are at least two of nociceptive, neuropathic and psychological pain components. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the at least two different pain components comprise all three of nociceptive, neuropathic and psychological pain components. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the comparator determines the relative contribution of each of the pain components being experienced by the subject. 
     
     
         9 .- 14 . (canceled) 
     
     
         15 . A method of detecting whether a subject is experiencing a neuropathic pain component, comprising:
 obtaining spectroscopic data of brain regions in the subject to determine the concentration of a selected biochemical; and   comparing the biochemical concentration obtained with a reference biochemical concentration, wherein a difference in selected biochemical concentration relative to the reference biochemical concentration is indicative of the presence of neuropathic pain by relating patterns in the relative differences between biochemical concentration levels using a statistical classification strategy (SCS) with linear discriminant analysis.   
     
     
         16 . A computer readable storage medium having stored therein program means for comparing subject spectroscopic data of brain regions of a subject with reference spectroscopic data having characteristic values which correlate and identify which of the three pain components of nociceptive, neuropathic and psychological are identified in the subject spectroscopic data. 
     
     
         21 . The medium of  claim 21 , wherein the program means provides an output indicating relative contribution of three pain components in the subject spectroscopic data.