Microwave Brain Scanner for Early Alzheimer’s Disease Detection
Description: Dementia is currently the seventh leading cause of death among all diseases and a major cause of disability and dependency worldwide. Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is its most common form and may contribute to 60-70% of cases. The current gold standard of diagnosing and monitoring AD heavily relies on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) β-Amyloid (Aβ) protein detection and CT/MRI/PET scans. However, the use of these methods presents several challenges: CSF analysis is invasive, CT and PET scans involve ionizing radiation, CT and MRI scans do not detect AD-related pathology, and PET scans are expensive and have limited availability. This project will develop a new microwave AD scanner (MAS) that is safe, cost-effective, non-invasive, pathologically specific, and portable, differentiating it from currently available imaging equipment and driving uptake in point-of-care applications, where patients can be tested outside an imaging suite or even in the individual’s home. Currently, ultrasound is the only truly portable imaging modality as required for point-of-care testing; however, ultrasound has difficulty in penetrating the human skull and therefore is not suitable for brain imaging. Our new approach will provide improved capability for rapidly diagnosing and monitoring AD, while providing direct measurement of AD-related pathology. Our scanner will be made possible through our understanding of the imaging potential of chirality (handedness) of Aβ protein. This project will generate new knowledge about how we can make use of signal polarization deflection properties correlated with Aβ chirality to detect and locate Aβ in the human brain. Our research will drive new manufacturing capability in New Zealand for the MAS and its IP-rich hardware system. Contact: [email protected]
Amount: NZD 17,640
Funding type: research
Funder scheme: 2023 Endeavour Fund - Smart Ideas
Start date: 2023-10-01
End date: 2026-09-30
Institution: University of Waikato
Funded outputs count: 0
Funder award ID: UOWX2306
OpenAlex ID: G4101309164