ADiRaS is a technique designed for non –invasive diagnosis of early stage Alzheimer’s disease. We have incorporated for the first time the use of Raman Spectroscopy to develop a revolutionary diagnosis device through the analysis of blood plasma sample. Our main objective is to promote, industrialize and commercialize our device among hospitals to become a reference diagnostic method for routine screening of Alzheimer’s patients.
Currently, AD is diagnosed with a comprehensive set of tests, including questionnaires and clinical interviews with patients in order to assess impairment and behavioral changes. However, these tests are inconclusive, as symptoms of different dementia types are easily misdiagnosed or conflated with the normal aging process. For these reasons, these tests need to be supplemented with diagnostic imaging tests such as Positron Emission Tomography (PET). PET scans the patient’s brain after being injected with a radioactive marker, which can cause major allergic reactions. Another method analyzes the cerebrospinal fluid, which requires performing the patient a lumbar puncture. This procedure can cause severe headaches, temporary pain of numbness to legs, infections and bleeding into the spinal canal. On the contrary, our solution consists of performing RS onto a sample of blood plasma. It is not invasive and has absolutely no side effects.
Alzheimer’s Disease and Diagnostic Market was valued in €7,1bn in 2012. The aging population, the increasing prevalence and it’s strong R&D pipeline makes this sector dynamic and promising to introduce ADiRaS test. First, due to its cost effectiveness and noninvasive nature, ADiRaS can be easily adopted by hospitals to provide an accurate diagnostic to their patients. In other words, to promote early and definitive diagnosis in individuals with memory impairment.
The information provided in Phase 1 was preliminary and during this feasibility study we have analysed our business case carefully and confirmed our estimations. During this stage, we have arrived to the conclusion it is worth continuing to the Phase 2.
