Laboratory Assay for Early Diagnosis of Alzheimer's DiseaseBackground
Background Current Alzheimer's disease (AD) diagnostic tools which utilize biological markers have low rates of success or involve invasive techniques that are at best uncomfortable and unreliable. Other tools incorporate bulky and expensive machinery. Moreover, many of the latter tests rely on the detection of proteins which are synthesized after the body has already suffered irreversible damage.
Invention Description In recent years, it has been reported that defects in cytochrome oxidase may be involved in AD; and specifically, AD patients have reduced cytochrome oxidase activity. Therefore, one can measure the cytochrome oxidase activity of a tissue sample and produce an accurate diagnosis. Furthermore, this method is effective with peripheral tissue biopsies, thus reducing the discomfort related to inferior diagnostic tools.
Benefits
Prompt output Allows monitoring of pathogenesis Assess therapy performance Increased patient compliance Opportunity for intervention therapy
Features
Minimally invasive Point-of-care diagnosis Cytochemical evaluation
Market Potential/Applications Alzheimer's disease costs American business more than $60 billion a year, and the cost is expected to rise significantly because of a predicted double in the number of afflictions in the next twenty years. The aforementioned system has the potential of reducing the cost by providing a quick diagnosis.
Development Stage Lab/bench prototype
IP Status One U.S. patent issued: 6,183,981
UT Researcher Francisco Gonzalez-Lima, Ph.D., Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin
Type of Offer:
Licensing
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