Feast Your Eyes on this New Technology for Early Alzheimer & #039;s Screening

A technology that originated at the University of Minnesota is well on its way to commercialization thanks to an investment award from Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF). The investment of up to $500,000 was awarded through the ADDF's Diagnostics Accelerator initiative. Toronto, Ontario-based RetiSpec licensed through the University of Minnesota's Technology Commercialization program. The technology (shown on the right) harnesses hyperspectral imaging and machine learning.  RetiSpec Eye Scanner 3.jpeg "We are focused on bringing to market a noninvasive, easy-to-use, screening technology that can change when and how we detect Alzheimer's disease at its earliest stages including before a patient presents with symptoms," said Eliav Shaked, CEO of RetiSpec. "Early detection provides an important window of opportunity for timely therapeutic interventions that can slow or even prevent the progression of Alzheimer's disease. ADDF's investment represents another point of external validation of the promise of our technology." In preclinical studies and a pilot human study, the retinal imaging technology was effective in detecting small changes in biomarkers associated with elevated cerebral amyloid beta levels early in the disease process including before the onset of clinical symptoms. RetiSpec is currently collaborating with Toronto Memory Program, Canada's largest Alzheimer's clinical trial site, to validate the ac...
Source: MDDI - Category: Medical Devices Authors: Tags: R & D Source Type: news