AD1 - Non-Invasive Alzheimer's Disease Screening & Monitoring Technology
Based on Occuity's patented optical technology platform, we're researching and developing the AD1 - A revolutionary non-invasive device that will enhance our ability to screen for Alzheimer's Disease and monitor its progression, allowing for earlier treatment and improved patient outcomes.
Introduction: The Alzheimer's Challenge
Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia, poses one of the greatest healthcare challenges of our age, affecting millions of individuals and their families worldwide. With a demographic shift towards an ageing population, the urgency for effective diagnostic and monitoring tools has never been more acute. At Occuity, we are at the forefront of addressing this challenge through the development of revolutionary non-invasive optical screening and monitoring devices. Utilising our advanced optical technology platform, we aim to transform the landscape of Alzheimer's care by enabling earlier detection and ongoing monitoring of the disease, directly through a pain-free scan of the eye.
This innovative approach not only promises to enhance the accuracy of Alzheimer's diagnosis but also improves the quality of life for patients by reducing the invasiveness of traditional diagnostic methods. Our work is driven by a commitment to pioneering technology that meets the needs of patients, healthcare providers, and caregivers, providing a window into the health of the brain through the eye.
In this guide we explore the impact of Alzheimer's, delve into the limitations of current diagnostics, and highlight how Occuity's optical technology aims to set new standards in the fight against this debilitating disease.
Dementia vs. Alzheimer’s Disease
Dementia is an umbrella term for a range of progressive conditions that affect the brain. General symptoms include memory loss, confusion, and problems with speech and understanding, which worsen over time.
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, accounting for 60-80% of dementia cases.
What is Alzheimer's Disease?
Causes and Impact:
Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder mainly affecting older adults, characterised by a progressive decline in cognitive functions, such as memory and reasoning. The condition is primarily caused by the accumulation of two types of protein in the brain: amyloid-beta plaques and tau tangles. Amyloid-beta plaques build up between nerve cells, while tau tangles form inside nerve cells. These accumulations interfere with neuron function and communication, leading to neuron inflammation and death and, ultimately, brain atrophy.
Early Symptoms: Memory loss that disrupts daily life, challenges in planning or solving problems, and confusion with time or place.
Risk Factors: Age, genetics, family history, and lifestyle factors.
Environmental factors and lifestyle choices also contribute to the risk of developing Alzheimer’s. These include factors like ageing, genetics (specifically the presence of the APOE ε4 allele), cardiovascular health, diet, physical activity, social activity, sleep, and even exposure to air pollution. Chronic conditions such as diabetes, obesity, and hypertension are known to increase the risk.
The Human Cost
The Alzheimer's Problem: Stats, Facts, and Figures:
UK Perspective:
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It is estimated that around 850,000 people are living with Alzheimer's disease in the UK, with this number projected to rise to over 1 million by 2025 and over 2 million by 2050, due to the ageing population. (Source: Alzheimer’s Society)
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The cost of Alzheimer's to the UK economy is significant, currently estimated at £26 billion per year, which includes the costs of healthcare, social care, and unpaid care provided by family members. (Source: Alzheimer’s Society)
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A Global Challenge:
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Globally, over 50 million people have dementia, with Alzheimer's as the dominant cause. A new case of dementia occurs somewhere in the world every 3 seconds. (Source: Alzheimer's Disease International)
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The worldwide cost of dementia, including Alzheimer's, is estimated at US$1 trillion annually, a figure expected to double by 2030 as the number of people affected is set to triple by 2050. (Source: World Health Organization)
Dementia: Economic and Health Implications in the UK
Dementia poses a significant health and financial burden across developed countries. Despite a slight decline in age-specific incidence rates over the last 30 years, demographic changes mean the total number of cases continues to rise by about 5% annually. It is estimated that between 900,000 and 1 million people in the UK live with dementia, yet at least one-third have never been formally diagnosed.
The financial impact of dementia is profound, with estimated costs for 2025 expected to total around £46.3 billion in the UK. These costs break down as follows:
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Healthcare Costs: £6.3 billion (13.6% of total costs)
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Social Care Costs: £21.6 billion (46.7% of total costs)
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Unpaid Care Costs: £18.2 billion (39.3% of total costs)
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Other Costs: £0.3 billion (0.6% of total costs)
Annual Alzheimer's Disease Care Costs (UK (Source)
Main Treatment Options: Managing Symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease
The current treatment options for Alzheimer's disease predominantly aim at managing symptoms rather than curing the disease. This approach stems from several fundamental challenges and limitations in our understanding and ability to treat the underlying causes of Alzheimer’s, such as the complexity of Alzheimer’s pathology and the difficulty in targeting the underlying mechanisms of the disease, as well as the lack of early diagnosis, which hampers many of the existing treatment techniques outlined below.
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Cholinesterase Inhibitors: These drugs, including donepezil, galantamine, and rivastigmine, work by boosting levels of a chemical messenger involved in memory and judgment. While they can help with cognitive symptoms (such as memory loss, confusion, and problems with thinking and reasoning), their impact is moderate, and they do not stop the disease from progressing.
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Memantine: Used to treat moderate to severe Alzheimer’s, memantine regulates the activity of glutamate, another chemical messenger in the brain that can lead to brain cell death when produced in large amounts. Like cholinesterase inhibitors, memantine does not halt the disease's progression but may help with some symptoms.
Effectiveness: The effectiveness of current Alzheimer’s treatments is limited. They can provide relief from symptoms for some patients and may help manage certain behavioural symptoms, but they do not prevent the progression of the disease. The benefits of these drugs are generally modest, and they work better for some people than others.
How Alzheimer's Changes the Brain
The Future of Alzheimer’s Treatments
The future of Alzheimer’s treatment is focused significantly on developing disease-modifying drugs that aim to slow or stop the progression of the disease. Research is currently targeted towards several areas:
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Amyloid-Beta Antibodies: Many new treatments in the pipeline target the buildup of amyloid-beta- plaques in the brain, a characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease. Lecanemab, Aducanumab (both FDA approved), and Donanemab (under clinical development), work by targeting these plaques directly to slow their formation. However, FDA approval has been controversial due to mixed results in clinical trials.
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Tau Protein Targets: Another approach involves targeting the tau protein, which forms tangles within brain cells and is another hallmark of Alzheimer’s. Drugs that prevent these tangles are believed to hold potential in maintaining brain health for a longer period.
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Neuroprotection and Neurorestoration: Other drugs aim to protect neurons from the damage that Alzheimer’s causes or to restore neuron function once damage has occurred.
Medicines and Treatments in the Pipeline:
Numerous drugs are currently undergoing clinical trials. Some promising ones include:
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Gantenerumab and Donanemab: Both are monoclonal antibodies (clones of your body’s antibodies made in a laboratory that stimulate your immune system), targeting beta-amyloid that are currently in late-stage clinical trials and have shown promise in early results.
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Oligonucleotide Therapies: These are designed to interfere with genetic processes that lead to the production of abnormal proteins in Alzheimer's disease.
Overall, while current treatments in the UK offer only symptomatic relief, the robust pipeline of potentially disease-modifying drugs provides hope that future therapies will offer significant improvements in how Alzheimer's is treated, potentially altering the course of the disease, and improving quality of life for patients.
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"Only about 65% of patients with dementia have ever received a formal diagnosis, indicating significant under-diagnosis." Source
Despite the prevalence of dementia, only about 65% of those affected have a formal diagnosis. The reluctance for formal diagnosis and referral reflects the lack of truly effective treatments. Current treatments like Donepezil and Memantine are inexpensive and can help to relieve some of the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease but do little to halt disease progression. However, the emergence of new, albeit expensive, disease-modifying drugs, such as Lecanemab and Donanemab, promise to redefine dementia care and diagnostics. Crucially, the evolving landscape of treatment highlights the urgent need for improved diagnostic and monitoring tools.
Alzheimer's Disease Screening:
The Limitations of Current Diagnostic Techniques
Key to halting progression of Alzheimer’s and preserving cognitive function is early detection of the disease, yet current diagnostic approaches often fall short.
Key Limitations:
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Late Detection: Current diagnostic methods typically identify Alzheimer’s only after significant symptoms have appeared and considerable brain damage has occurred. This late detection limits the effectiveness of symptomatic treatments and rules out interventions that might be more effective at an earlier stage.
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Invasiveness and Accessibility:
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Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) Analysis: This method is highly accurate but requires a lumbar puncture, which is invasive and can be uncomfortable for patients.
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PET Scans: While effective in detecting amyloid plaques, PET scans are expensive, not widely available, and involve exposure to radioactive substances.
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Reliance on Symptom Assessment:
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Current diagnostics often rely heavily on cognitive tests and patient history. These are subjective and can result in underdiagnosis or misdiagnosis, particularly in the early stages of the disease or in cases where symptoms are atypical.
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Lack of Predictive Power:
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Some diagnostic tools are effective at confirming the presence of Alzheimer's but cannot predict the rate of progression or the onset of symptoms in individuals with early or mild cognitive impairment.
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Cost and Resource Intensity:
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Advanced imaging and biomarker tests are costly and require significant healthcare resources, which are not accessible in all healthcare settings, particularly in less developed regions.
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Enhancing Diagnostic Approaches:
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"91% of the people Alzheimer’s Society surveyed, in 2022, said they benefitted from getting a dementia diagnosis. Yet over 300,000 people in England, Scotland and Wales do not have a diagnosis." Source
These statistics underscore the need for innovations in diagnostic technology. With new MAB (monoclonal antibodies) based drugs becoming available, there is a significant benefit in finding the condition early so its progression can be slowed. An ideal diagnostic tool would be non-invasive, highly accurate, capable of early detection before significant symptom onset, and widely accessible. Such advancements could transform the landscape of Alzheimer's treatment, making it possible to intervene both earlier and more effectively and provide ongoing monitoring to enable adjustments to treatment programs.
As we continue our journey towards improving Alzheimer's care, the development of such diagnostic tools remains a priority, promising a future where Alzheimer's disease can be managed more proactively and with greater hope for those affected.
"Dementia diagnosis rates across the UK are too low and the Covid-19 pandemic caused significant decline in diagnosis rates. From January 2020 to March 2023, dementia diagnosis rates in England dropped from 67.6% to 63.0%, equating to a reduction of over 30,000 diagnoses." Source
AD1 – An innovative Optical Alzheimer’s Disease Screening & Monitoring Device
Occuity’s technology represents a groundbreaking approach to Alzheimer’s screening and monitoring. Leveraging advanced optical engineering, our novel device – the Aβ+ Reader – is designed to detect biomarkers associated with Alzheimer’s disease non-invasively through a quick, pain-free scan of the eye.
We believe the Aβ+ Reader will offer a revolutionary improvement in early detection and continuous monitoring without discomfort to the patient. With the support of Innovate UK, SBRI (Small Business Research Initiative) funding, Occuity is accelerating its research and development efforts for this innovative technology.
How it Works:
The device utilises light to scan the eye, specifically targeting the lens to detect signs of amyloid-beta plaques—one of the early indicators of Alzheimer's disease. We believe the analysis of the number and distribution of these plaques, could provide the painless, quick, and accurate assessment so desperately needed.
AD1 - Characteristics
Non Contact
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Pain free
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No risk of infection
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No consumables
Simple
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Compact Handheld Design
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Quick Operation
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Cost-Effective
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Useable in domestic settings
Accurate
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State of the Art Optical Technology
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Accurate Measurement
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Unlimited Scans
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This technology is not just a step forward in Alzheimer's diagnostics; it's a leap towards changing how we view and manage brain health, offering hope for earlier intervention.
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Dr. Alistair Bounds, Future Leaders Fellow & Senior Research Scientist, Occuity
Health Economics Benefits of AD1 Alzheimer's Disease Screening Device:
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Cost-Effectiveness: Reduces the need for more expensive and invasive tests like PET scans and CSF analysis.
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Safe: The AD1 eye scan, would be non-invasive and safe, whilst existing screening techniques have an element of risk associated with the procedure.
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Efficiency & Accessibility: The AD1 would enable rapid screening, potentially within minutes, facilitating higher patient throughput. As scans could be conducted in non-clinical settings such as high street opticians and pharmacies, more people could be tested.
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Reduction in Overall Healthcare & Social Costs: Early detection and monitoring can help in managing the progression of the disease, potentially delaying the onset of severe symptoms, and reducing long-term care costs. With a large burden of the “unpaid care” costs falling on family members, this could have a huge social impact.
Call for Collaboration
At Occuity, we believe in the power of partnership to drive forward the advancements in Alzheimer's disease diagnosis and treatment. We are interested in discussing the potential for collaboration with academic institutions, healthcare professionals, technology firms, and biopharmaceutical companies who are as passionate as we are about transforming the future of healthcare.
Invitation to Partners: Whether your expertise is in clinical research, pharmaceutical development, biotechnology, or healthcare delivery, we invite you to contact us to discuss how collaboration can help accelerate the path to innovative solutions.
Partner with Us:
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Research Institutions: Collaborate on clinical trials, validation studies, and the development of next-generation diagnostics.
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Healthcare Providers: Implement our technologies in clinical settings to gather real-world data and feedback.
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Technology Companies: Help us enhance the capabilities of our devices through software development, data analysis, or hardware integration.
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Pharmaceutical Firms: Explore how our diagnostic tools can be paired with therapeutic products to accelerate and improve treatment regimes.
Contact Us
Additional Benefits
Beyond frontline Alzheimer’s screening, the device could also potentially be utilised in the research and development of new drugs and treatments. There are several use cases for this:
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Enhanced Patient Recruitment: By detecting early biomarkers of Alzheimer’s, such as amyloid-beta accumulation, and potentially other forms of dementia, the device could help to identify appropriate candidates for clinical trials, particularly those in the earliest stages of the disease, who are often the target of new therapies.
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Monitoring Drug Efficacy: The device could be used to non-invasively measure changes in amyloid-beta levels in the lens over time, allowing researchers to assess the biological impact of investigational drugs and adjust dosages or strategies accordingly.
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Improved Patient Compliance: Non-invasive monitoring increases patient comfort and compliance, ensuring more consistent and reliable data collection throughout the duration of a trial.
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Cost Reduction: By streamlining the screening and monitoring processes, the device can help reduce the overall costs associated with lengthy and complex drug trials. Particularly when difficult decisions need to be made about stopping drug trials early if they are proving to be ineffective.
These aspects highlight the device’s potential to not only facilitate more efficient drug development processes but also to enhance the accuracy and effectiveness of clinical trials.
Academic Articles: Further Reading
Publication Name | Paper Name | Date | Link |
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Alzheimer's & Dementia | Economic Evaluation of Amyloid Imaging and Cerebrospinal Fluid Biomarkers for Alzheimer's Disease Diagnosis | 01/08/2019 | |
Neurology | Amyloid PET Imaging in Alzheimer's Disease: Comparison of Three Radiotracers | 01/01/2020 | |
Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience | The Role of Amyloid Beta in the Pathogenesis of Alzheimer's Disease | 01/03/2021 | |
Alzheimer's Research & Therapy | Amyloid-related imaging abnormalities (ARIA) in Alzheimer's Disease: Clinical, Radiological, and Economic Implications | 01/12/2022 | |
JAMA Neurology | Associations of Amyloid Plaque and Neurodegeneration Biomarkers With Cognitive Function in Preclinical Alzheimer Disease | 01/07/2019 |