Portable Device Quickly Detects Early Alzheimer's
Disease for Faster Treatment
Detects mild cognitive impairment - earliest stage of Alzheimer’s
Jan. 16, 2008 - The latest medications can delay
the onset of Alzheimer’s disease, but none are able to reverse its
devastating effects. This limitation makes early detection the key to
Alzheimer’s patients maintaining a good quality of life for as long as
possible. Now, a new device developed by the Georgia Institute of
Technology and Emory University may allow patients to take a brief,
inexpensive test that could be administered as part of a routine yearly
checkup at a doctor’s office.
The test will detect mild cognitive impairment
(MCI) — often the earliest stage of Alzheimer’s. The device is expected
to be commercialized later this year.
Current assessment tests capable of detecting early
Alzheimer’s typically are taken with a pen and paper or at a computer
terminal and last about an hour and a half. They must be given by a
trained technician in a quiet environment, because any distractions can
influence the patient’s score and reduce the test’s effectiveness.
Because of their length and expense, the tests are
not used as regular screening tools and typically are given only after
there is obvious cognitive impairment such as forgetfulness or unsafe
behavior.
“Families usually wait until their mom or dad does
something somewhat dangerous, like forgetting to take their medications
or getting lost, before bringing them in for testing. At that point, the
patient has already lost a significant portion of their cognitive
function,” said David Wright, MD, who helped develop the device.
“With this device, we might be able to pick up
impairment well before those serious symptoms occur and start patients
on medications that could delay those symptoms,” added Wright, an
assistant professor of emergency medicine at Emory University School of
Medicine and co-director of the Emory Emergency Medicine Research
Center.
The Georgia Tech and Emory device, called DETECT,
gives individuals a roughly ten-minute test designed to gauge reaction
time and memory — functions that, when impaired, are associated with the
earliest stages of Alzheimer’s disease. The test is a specially
modified, shortened version of the traditional pen and paper test and
could be given repeatedly by doctors to evaluate any changes in
cognitive functions.
“We really envision this to be part of the normal
preventative care a patient receives from a general practitioner,” said
Michelle LaPlaca, Ph.D., one of the creators of the device and an
associate professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical
Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University.
“It would be part of a regular preventative
medicine exam much like a PSA test or EKG (electrocardiogram), serving
as a cognitive impairment vital sign of sorts.”
The portable test runs patients through a battery
of visual and auditory stimuli such as pictures and words that assess
cognitive abilities relative to age, gauging reaction time and memory
capabilities. Its software can track cognitive capabilities — and
decline — year to year during annual appointments. And because the
device blocks outside sound and light from the patient’s environment, it
can be administered in virtually any setting, providing more consistent
results.
Preliminary analysis of the first 100 patients of
a 400-person clinical study being conducted at Emory’s Wesley Woods
Center has shown that the 10-minute DETECT test has similar accuracy to
the 90-minute “Gold Standard” pen and paper test.
With millions of baby boomers easing into late
adulthood, the number of patients with Alzheimer’s is expected to
skyrocket over the next few decades. More than 24 million people
worldwide are currently thought to have Alzheimer’s disease and by 2040,
an estimated 81 million people worldwide are expected to develop the
disease.
To give these millions of potential Alzheimer’s
sufferers a chance to slow the disease’s advance before serious symptoms
set in, doctors need an inexpensive and easy-to- administer test to
detect and track the cognitive decline associated with the early stages
of the disease.
The DETECT device is designed to be administered
while a patient is still healthy, tracking any abnormal decreases in the
patient’s cognitive performance over time. If a patient’s performance
declines outside the normal range, the patient would then undergo
additional testing and care from a neurologist, neuropsychologist or
other specialist.
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The DETECT system includes an LCD display in a
visor with an onboard dedicated computer, noise reduction headphones and
an input device (controller). The display projects the visual aspect of
the test and the headphones provide the verbal instructions. |
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The DETECT system includes an LCD display in a
visor with an onboard dedicated computer, noise reduction headphones and
an input device (controller). The display projects the visual aspect of
the test, the headphones provide the verbal instructions and the
controller records the wearer’s response.
DETECT’s creators have formed a company, called
Zenda Technologies, to commercialize the device for MCI, as well as
other conditions. Georgia Tech and Emory researchers are exploring other
types of cognitive impairment such as Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity
Disorder (ADHD) that could be picked up by DETECT. A version of the
system designed to detect mild concussions on the sidelines of a
football game, during other high-impact sports or on a battlefield is
still being tested.
The research was funded with a grant from the
Wallace H. Coulter Foundation and support from the Georgia Research
Alliance through Georgia Tech’s VentureLab.
Dr. Wright and Dr. LaPlaca have an equity interest
in Zenda Technologies. In addition, Dr. Wright and Dr. LaPlaca are
inventors on a patent application covering the DETECT technology, and
may receive royalties or fees through the license agreement. Emory,
Georgia Tech, Dr. Wright, and Dr. LaPlaca may benefit financially if
Zenda Technologies is successful in marketing the DETECT device. Dr.
Wright’s relationship with Zenda Technologies has been reviewed and
approved by Emory in accordance with its policies on conflicts of
interest.
Related Links
●
Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech
and Emory
●
Zenda Technologies
The Georgia Institute of Technology is one of the
nation's premiere research universities. Ranked seventh among U.S. News
& World Report's top public universities, Georgia Tech's more than
18,000 students are enrolled in its Colleges of Architecture, Computing,
Engineering, Liberal Arts, Management and Sciences. Tech is among the
nation's top producers of women and African-American engineers. The
Institute offers research opportunities to both undergraduate and
graduate students and is home to more than 100 interdisciplinary units
plus the Georgia Tech Research Institute.
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Device Quickly Detects Early Alzheimer's
