Eye imaging technology could be used to detect dementia in patients as much as 20 years before symptoms show themselves, a Perth conference has been told.
Dementia researchers say that with new developments in eye imaging technology, they can monitor changes in the eye which may mirror changes that occur in the brain with dementia.
Clinical trials have suggested eye imaging may detect Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia up to 20 years before symptoms appear.
Dr Mojtaba Golzan, researcher with the School of Advanced Medicine at Macquarie University, said the idea came from looking at the disease using retinal scans.
“We’ve been recruiting patients who are sort of mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease and we’re scanning their eyes for any symptoms,” Dr Golzan said.
“When we stimulate it, the cells become active and they demand for more blood basically from the brain, and the brain responds by sending in more blood to the eye.
“And what we are seeing in these patients is that the response of the brain to the demand of blood from the eye is much lower in these patients compared to the controls on the same age and effects.”
The conference heard US researchers have developed unique image analysis software that can make correlations between eye layer thickness and the likelihood of a person to develop Alzheimer’s disease.
Alzheimer’s Australia president Graeme Samuel said that, while in its early stages, the technology is promising.
“The research that’s currently taking place worldwide is designed to try and detect the potential for Alzheimer’s disease many years before it becomes revealed,” Mr Samuel said.
“And if we can detect the disease at its very early stages, then that is the first step towards finding a way of preventing or delaying the onset of the disease.
“Because once it’s there and it has done its damage to the brain and to our brain cells, then it is a very, very difficult, if not impossible as research currently stands, to find a way to actually repair the damaged brain cells.”