[New possibilities for automated diagnosis of dementia].

Dementia is underdiagnosed and undertreated in Germany. Automatic diagnosing of dementia based on standard magnetic resonance imaging has the capacity to reduce diagnostic uncertainties. The algorithm learns a disease specific pattern of atrophy from training samples. It is independent from radiological expertise which may be scarce outside specialised centres and can be installed on MRT-machines or desktop PCs. It can also play its part in planning and conducting treatment trials by recruiting a sample with predicted fast future decline. Extension, based e.g. on resting state functional imaging are possible but are further away from clinical routine.