Tech breakthrough enables early detection of Alzheimer's

San Francisco: A "dual-mode brain sensing device" developed by a team of researchers can now help detect Alzheimer's disease (AD) quickly and effectively according to the reports.

The principal investigator for the project "Digital biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease with compact dual mode brain sensing" is Hanli Liu, a bioengineering professor at UTA (University of Texas at Arlington).

"What we are doing in this project is developing a quick and comfortable method to measure metabolic, hemodynamic and electrophysiological (MHE) activities in the human brain," said Hanli Liu.

"The proposed development enables us to identify digital neurophysiological biomarkers. After we cross-validate them, they can be used for accurate detection of Alzheimer's in each patient as well as for screening for the early phase of AD."

This device records data from near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy, as well as from dry or wireless electroencephalograms (EEG).

In spectroscopy, NIR light is absorbed and emitted by the human cortex, while in electroencephalography, electrical activity in the brain reflects dynamic neural activity.

This multifunctional device will be able to measure a variety of brain-health parameters, such as cerebral metabolism, cerebral blood volume, cerebral oxygenation, brain oscillation powers and functional connectivity and neurovascular coupling, the report added.

The Alzheimer's Association estimates that 50 million people worldwide, including more than 6 million Americans, suffer from Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia.

Among all types of dementia, AD kills more people than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined. AD and other types of dementia cost $355 billion in 2021, a figure that is expected to rise to more than $1 trillion by 2050, said the report.

-IANS with Inputs