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. 2009 Oct;6(4):755–760. doi: 10.1016/j.nurt.2009.08.003

Neuroimaging as a tool for pain diagnosis and analgesic development

Karolina Wartolowska 1,✉, Irene Tracey 1
PMCID: PMC5084295  PMID: 19789078

Summary

Neuroimaging makes it possible to study pain processing beyond the peripheral nervous system, at the supraspinal level, in a safe, noninvasive way, without interfering with neurophysiological processes. In recent years, studies using brain imaging methods have contributed to our understanding of the mechanisms responsible for the development and maintenance of chronic pain. Moreover, neuroimaging shows promising results for analgesic drug development and in characterizing different types of pain, bringing us closer to development of mechanism-based diagnoses and treatments for the chronic pain patient.

Key Words: Neuroimaging, pain, analgesia, drug development

Contributor Information

Karolina Wartolowska, Email: karolina@fmrib.ox.ac.uk.

Irene Tracey, Email: irene@fmrib.ox.ac.uk.

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