Reading’s Occuity wins research contract for Alzheimer’s screening device
Occuity has been awarded a government-funded Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) research contract to support development of a non-invasive screening device for Alzheimer’s disease.
The Amyloid Beta Plus (Aβ+) Reader will help to identify the presence in the brain of Aβ+ plaques, which have been targeted in recent therapeutic breakthroughs to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s.
More than 50 million people around the world currently live with dementia – a number expected to triple by 2050 according to the WHO – and Alzheimer’s is the leading cause.
“Alzheimer’s disease poses one of the most daunting health challenges of our era”, said Dr Dan Daly, CEO of Occuity.
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“Current diagnostic methods are inadequate, being either non-specific, expensive, or invasive, and there is no effective screening programme.
“Our work on the Aβ+ Reader embodies our mission to revolutionise healthcare technology with accessible, non-invasive, optical solutions.
“This SBRI contract provides important funding that will enable us to move forward towards our goal of delivering a painless, rapid screening method which integrates seamlessly into routine eye exams, thus enabling earlier intervention.”
Occuity’s Aβ+ Reader will use patented technology to scan the eye’s lens for specific biomarkers indicative of Alzheimer’s disease, providing a swift and painless assessment tool.
Dr Alistair Bounds, senior research scientist and project lead at Occuity, said: “This is a very exciting project, combining state-of-the-art photonics technologies, advanced biomarkers, and Occuity’s deep expertise in optical and ophthalmic measurements to target the most prevalent form of dementia.
“It sits perfectly between Occuity’s existing diabetes screening work and our longer-term FLF project, bringing together highly skilled scientists and engineers from both of these projects.”
The Aβ+ Reader is the culmination of collaborative efforts with the University of Reading, which will provide critical research on biomaterials to simulate the human lens for device validation, and Singular Photonics, whose advanced detector technology will enhance the reader’s imaging capabilities
Michelle Donelan, secretary of state for science, innovation and technology, added: “Dementia is an incredibly cruel disease, and as the leading cause of death in the UK nearly every family is affected by it in some way.
“As a life sciences world leader, the UK is uniquely placed to make a difference in the fight against dementia, and by bringing academia, industry, the NHS and those with lived experience together, we’re determined to do just that.
“Now we need to keep mobilising the resources needed to fuel this vital work – from the funds raised by charities large and small, to the industry backing that’s crucial to delivering more breakthroughs.”
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