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A new test to diagnose multiple sclerosis (MS) using an MRI scan instead of a painful spinal tap has been successfully introduced at an NHS trust in England. Researchers at the University of Nottingham previously found that a new type of MRI scan could identify MS with only an extra six minutes in the scanner, meaning patients no longer had to undergo a painful lumbar puncture. The test is now in use in Nottingham and increasingly in other neurology departments worldwide.

The findings from the rollout are published in Neurology: Clinical Practice.

MS is a neurological condition that affects around 150,000 people in the U.K., according to the MS Society. It is notoriously difficult to diagnose because it has many symptoms, not everyone experiences all of them, and the disease can progress at different rates.

Previously, many people suspected of having MS would have a standard MRI scan and then undergo a lumbar puncture. Lumbar punctures often cause headaches and back pain and can lead to unintended complications.

MS is characterized by multiple scars ("sclerosis") in the brain or spine. These scars, or lesions, form around small veins.

For the new test, the team uses a clinical MRI scanner of the type found in neuroscience centers to perform a special scan called a T2*-weighted MRI. It lets doctors see MS lesions in greater detail so they can tell whether there are veins in the middle of the lesions.

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