European scientists have taken several significant steps to enable earlier diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease in Predict AD, an EU-funded project.
The scientists have developed new approaches for measuring biomarkers for diagnostics and a novel system for integrating the information systematically.
The system provides an objective method for measuring the state of the patient.
Predict AD is an EU-funded research project that develops objective and efficient methods for enabling earlier diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease.
Diagnosis requires a holistic view of the patient combining information from several sources, such as clinical tests, imaging and blood samples.
The aim of the Predict AD project is to develop an objective indicator to diagnose Alzheimer's disease at the earliest stage possible.
Scientists from the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland claim to have developed novel approaches to extract biomarkers from imaging data, electrophysiological data and blood samples, as well as a unique and clinically useful software tool for integrating all these heterogeneous measurements.
Atrophy in the mediotemporal lobe is a well-known hallmark of Alzheimer's disease.
Magnetic resonance imaging is able to measure this tissue loss.
In current clinical practice, images are interpreted mostly only by visual inspection but there is a great need for objective measurements.
Predict AD has developed several methods to meet this need, including tools for measuring the size of the hippocampus, the atrophy rate of the hippocampus and two modern approaches based on comparing patient data with previously diagnosed cases available in large databases.
Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging is another imaging technology studied in the project.
A novel tracer developed especially for diagnostics of Alzheimer's disease provides promises for very early diagnosis of the disease.
Alzheimer's disease is known to affect the electromagnetic activity of the brain.
In Predict AD we have studied the performance of a novel technology, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) combined with electroencephalographic (EEG) measures in detecting the disease.
The strength of TMS/EEG is that it allows direct and non-invasive perturbation of the human cerebral cortex without requiring the subject's collaboration.
Our study has shown significant changes in Alzheimer's patients compared with healthy aging people.
Molecular level biomarkers are currently under extensive studies in Alzheimer's research.
Many biomarkers, such as tau proteins and b-amyloid 42, measured from the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), the liquid surrounding the cerebral cortex, have been found to be strongly related with the disease.
One major challenge of these biomarkers is that taking samples from CSF is an invasive measurement, limiting their usability in early diagnostics.
Blood samples would be an excellent source for detecting Alzheimer's disease, as blood sampling is not considered an invasive technique.
Predict AD has studied the role of metabolomic and protein compounds in Alzheimer's disease from blood samples.
The preliminary results reveal several promising compounds.
Currently, clinicians make the final diagnosis by combining heterogeneous measurements with information from interviews of the patient and relatives.
This process involves subjective reasoning and requires strong expertise from the clinicians.
Modern hospitals have huge data reserves containing hidden information that could be utilised in diagnostics by systematic mathematical modelling.
Predict AD has designed a totally novel approach for measuring objectively the state of the patient.
This decision support system, developed in close collaboration with clinicians, compares patient measurements with measurements of other patients in large databases and provides at the end an index and graphical representation reflecting the state of the patient.
Dementia has been recently identified as a health priority in both Europe and the US.
Alzheimer's disease, the most common cause of dementia, alone accounts for costs equivalent to about one per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the whole world and the number of persons affected is expected to double in the next 20 years.
Early diagnostics plays a key role in solving the problem, because treatments of this irreversible disease should be started in an early phase to be efficient.
Various treatments are currently under extensive development.
So far, the lack of systematic and objective ways to identify persons for treatments has been apparent.
With a consortium of European research and industry partners, the Predict AD project takes an important step towards an early approach to Alzheimer's disease prediction and management.
Public and private partners from eight research, academic, industrial and medical organisations from five different European countries form the consortium: VTT (Finland), GE Healthcare (UK), Nextim (Finland), University of Eastern Finland (Finland), Imperial College London (UK), Karolinska Institutet (Sweden), University of Milan (Italy) and Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet (Denmark).
Predict AD is organising a workshop in Kuopio, Finland, on 25 June, 2011.
The purpose of the workshop is to present and discuss results of the Predict AD project and recent innovations for the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease.
