Doctors involved in the study, who presented during the Society of Interventional Radiology's virtual meeting, say the augmented-reality platform can help physicians and patients better understand their treatment.

The technique—known as 3D cartilage surface mapping—detects subtle changes in a person’s knee joint that cannot be picked up via conventional x-ray or MRI.

"This whole sub-branch of fMRI could go extinct if we can't address this critical limitation," said one expert who has dedicated much of his professional research to the field in question.

With such a model, clinicians can implement preemptive measures for higher risk patients, experts wrote in Academic Radiology.

Colorado State University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign teamed up to develop the harmonic optical tomography approach.

Altered mental state and stroke were the most common findings, which may help physicians better understand how the disease impacts the central nervous system.

The findings published Friday may help researchers develop new screening mechanisms to identify children who are at risk for the disorder and similar conditions.

It's all part of Georgia State University's imaging innovation hub designed to unite digital imaging research from across the institution.