Innovative Brain Scanning For Alzheimer's Screening Unveiled

Researchers at the University
of Kentucky Sanders-Brown Center on Aging are launching an Alzheimer's
screening clinical trial with Neuronetrix's innovative brain scanning
system, called COGNISION(TM). The study will involve brainwave assessments
using a technology called event-related potentials (ERP's). The study is
expected to validate the performance of the COGNISION(TM) system and to
demonstrate the system's applicability in a primary care setting. Up to 100
Alzheimer sufferers and controls will participate over the next 6-12
months.



During the study patients will wear a sophisticated electronic headset
which will record brain activity in response to an auditory stimulus. The
process is similar to hearing screening tests performed on newborn infants
throughout the country. The data is then uploaded to an online database
where a powerful pattern recognition engine will correlate the ERP tests
with known brainwave patterns.



The COGNISION(TM) test is expected to be the first approved Alzheimer's
disease screening test which directly evaluates a patient's cognitive
performance. "We are not looking at a surrogate biomarker which may or may
not correlate with Alzheimer's. Instead, we are directly measuring the
cognitive deficits caused by the disease," says K.C. Fadem, co-founder of
Neuronetrix.



It is generally believed that the drugs used to treat Alzheimer's, such
as market leader Aricept(R) from Pfizer, are most effective early in the
disease process. Because of this, a national focus has been placed on the
importance of Alzheimer's screening to determine optimum treatment paths in
the early stage of the disease. At least one organization of medical
experts, the AD Screening Discussion Group, has advocated that Alzheimer's
disease screenings become a routine part of the application for Medicare.



Alzheimer's disease affects about 5 million Americans with 500,000 new
cases reported each year. This number is expected to grow to 16 million by
2050. The CDC recently reported that Alzheimer's disease moved up to 7th
place from 8th place among the leading causes of death in 2004, passing
influenza and pneumonia.



The Sanders-Brown Center at the University of Kentucky is one of only
32 Alzheimer's Centers of Excellence in the country. Neuronetrix is
planning a follow on study to evaluate the COGNISION(TM) System on a
commercial scale that will be performed at other Alzheimer's Centers of
Excellence including the University of Pennsylvania and Indiana University.



For more information, go to neuronetrix


Neuronetrix, Inc.

neuronetrix