January marks the start of Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, as set by the Alzheimer Society of Canada. California-based brain technology (deep-tech) company Darmiyan’s clinical brain test “BrainSee” has recently secured FDA approval. The diagnosis rates for Alzheimer’s and dementia are currently quite low, so frequent and improved diagnostic methods such as these are needed to treat the disease quickly, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
GlobalData forecasts the Alzheimer’s disease market size to be worth $15.9 billion globally in 2030.
The Alzheimer Society of Canada aims to encourage people and organizations to learn about dementia, its risk factors, and prevention and treatment. While the term “dementia” is an umbrella word used to describe a set of symptoms, Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause for dementia, accounting for 60-80% of all diagnoses.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, there are approximately 6.5 million Americans of age 65 plus that are currently living with Alzheimer’s disease. Similarly, according to the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019, there are approximately 57.4 million cases of dementia globally.
Alexandra Murdoch, Senior Medical Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “One of the most important factors to think about when it comes to dementia is diagnosis. While there is not a cure for dementia, the sooner one is aware of their diagnosis, the sooner they can begin treatments to slow the progression.”
The current diagnostic methods for Alzheimer’s disease include blood-based biomarker tests, PET scans, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) tests, and clinical assessments. Blood biomarker tests identify distinct biomarkers related to Alzheimer’s disease. They offer non-invasive and easily accessible means for the early detection and tracking the progression of the disease and employ antibodies to gauge the blood concentrations of particular proteins which are associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
PET scans involve injecting a radioactive tracer into the bloodstream to visualize amyloid plaques in the brain, and CSF tests analyze cerebrospinal fluid for biomarkers associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
Clinical assessments such as cognitive tests and evaluations of symptoms are also used to screen patients for cognitive impairment.
BrainSee is a platform that is designed to help physicians determine the prognosis of patients, who have amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). BrainSee uses AI algorithms to analyze a patient’s MRI scan results and generates a score to predict the likelihood of a patient progressing from aMCI to Alzheimer’s disease within five years.
Murdoch concludes: “Platforms such as BrainSee will help physicians diagnose Alzheimer’s more frequently and faster, which will result in the best prognosis for patients.”
