Posted on 7 months ago by Laurentina Kennedy
Irish start-up breaking new ground in fight against Alzheimer’s disease Irish Times Olive Keogh
“Alzheimer’s disease changes lives. Even though the disease is gradual no one is ever ready
Posted on 7 months ago by Laurentina Kennedy
Irish start-up breaking new ground in fight against Alzheimer’s disease Irish Times Olive Keogh
“Alzheimer’s disease changes lives. Even though the disease is gradual no one is ever ready for the impact it has on family relationships and responsibilities,” says Dr. Paula Bolger, whose company, Cortex Cognition, is developing digital biomarkers to objectively monitor the progress of Alzheimer’s and detect the subtle changes that can indicate its early stages.
“We know that the changes brought about by the disease occur in the brain years, if not decades before the symptoms emerge,” Bolger says. “New therapies are increasingly focused on treating people before they develop symptoms with a view to preventing the development of dementia and hitting the disease when it may be more responsive. At the moment the lack of screening for high-risk populations in particular means that Alzheimer’s detection is occurring late and often 10-15 years from onset.”
Cortex Cognition’s patent-pending technology aims is to do two things: simplify the way in which levels of cognition are measured and accelerate the commercial availability of tests that can do this.
To cut to the chase it has “borrowed” from the gaming industry and is applying the same sort of immersive virtual reality found there to brain function testing. The tests are structured to assess an individual’s performance through a series of cognitive challenges and the results provide a picture of their current level of brain function. This can then be used as a baseline for future testing.
“The tests still widely used in hospitals today are pen and paper-based, and they require the input of a neuropsychologist and there aren’t very many of them available in any country. As a result, these tests are not scalable or really fit for purpose anymore. There is a big need for new ways of testing and monitoring people,” Bolger says.
“Different [neurological] diseases also have different pen and paper tasks, and all the scores mean different things so we’re trying to simplify the process by creating tasks that will apply across diseases. There’s also an issue around monitoring or lack of it over time. As of now, people are put on medication but there is no regular monitoring of how it is affecting their condition. This would be feasible with our testing method which is a lot more scalable than using MRIs for example.
“Our aim is to be the first virtual reality computerised cognitive assessment aid with regulatory approval for commercialisation in Europe and the United States, ” adds Bolger, whose company currently employs five people.
“Our technology is designed to be used for a wide range of neurological conditions including multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s but we are initially focusing on Alzheimer’s disease because the most commonly used clinical test, the mini-mental state exam, does not detect pre-clinical disease. Only 10 percent of patients with Alzheimer’s disease is currently diagnosed at the pre-clinical stage.”
Bolger says a combination of advances in virtual reality devices and discreet motion sensors as well as increases in computer power and data analysis offer real possibilities when it comes to making diagnoses more specific. “We can combine these tools with deep analytics and ipsative scales [a type of measure used in personality and attitude assessments] to target, personalise and create a very powerful precision medicine solution. This is a game-changer for dementia risk.”
Before setting up Cortex Cognition in 2016, Bolger worked in the digital health sector, and led the development of new products for both healthcare providers and pharmaceutical companies. One aspect of her role was looking for real-world evidence that drugs were working, and the main way of collecting this information was by simply asking people.
“Patients would be asked ‘how is your memory?’ They would give a response and that would be used to sc