NEUROFIT, INC. — Department of Health and Human Services SBIR Phase I: NIA

Description

Project Summary Alzheimer s DiseaseADaffects an estimatedmillion adults in the U SBythis number is expected to increase almosttomillion and without new treatment or interventionsbythere will be more thanmillion seniors living with Alzheimer s dementia in the U SAlzheimerandapos s AssociationAD is associated with a spectrum of neurocognitive signs and symptoms that lead to significant morbidity and mortalityand the lack of readily available screening for neurocognitive decline has led to a situation where most dementia cases are detected and diagnosed when the disease becomes overtadding risk to patients in early stages of degenerative disease and burdening the healthcare system with additional costsOur Phase I SBIR project will develop novel oculometrici eeye movement basedtechnologies for functional assessment of neural circuitsuseful as a monitoring biomarker during healthy aging and to the monitor progression of healthy agingmild cognitive impairmentMCIand ADThe clinical significance and market need for improved assessment of MCI and AD is established by three main pointsFirstand most importantlya large number of seniors are living with undetected dementiaSternberg et aland only sixteen percent of seniors undergo cognitive screening on a yearly basisAlzheimerandapos s Associationindicating a need for new techniquesmethodsand technologiesSecondprogress in development of effective drugs for AD is hindered by outdatedsubjective outcome measuresMehta et alThirdmonitoring biomarkers are needed to assess effects of lifestyle interventionsKivipelto et aland other modifiable risk factors for dementiaLivingston et alTogetherthese gapslimitationsand encouraging possibilities necessitate the development of novel biomarkers of central nervous systemCNSfunctionOur team will develop a battery of eye movement based tests tuned to the specific cognitive impairments that arise in MCI and ADto be implemented using the neuroFit ONE oculometric Randamp D platformWe will also use neuroFit ONE to prototype a novel computational architecture for eye tracking appropriate for use with diverse patient populationssuitable for incorporation into consumer electronic devicesOur goal is to develop a suite of oculometric tools suitable for medical and consumer usehigh sensitivity medical devices for use in the clinic and a consumer grade solution for distribution in electronic devicese gvirtual reality headsetsProject Narrative Alzheimer s Disease affects an estimatedmillion adults in the U Sits progression marked by decline in several cognitive domainsThe lack of readily available screening for neurocognitive decline has led to a situation where most dementia cases are detected and diagnosed when the disease becomes overtadding risk to patients in early stages of degenerative disease and burdening the healthcare system with additional costsAlzhimer s AssociationOur project will develop a battery of eye movement based tests tuned to the specific cognitive impairments that arise in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer s Disease and Related DementiasThis project will deliver robust oculometric technologies developed and tested using populations of seniorssuitable for later application of oculometric technologies in consumer devices