DiTech v1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Non-Invasive Diagnostic Technologies for Neurodegenerative Diseases
IRAS ID
232115
Contact name
Emmanuel Ifeachor
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
The University of Plymouth
Duration of Study in the UK
5 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Neurodegenerative diseases (NDs), including Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD), affect more than 30 million people worldwide and the figure is expected to double every 20 years. It would be greatly beneficial to identify NDs the early pre-symptomatic stages so that therapeutic strategies can be applied when they become available to halt or slow its progression.
We hypothesise that the following modern techniques may server as non-invasive early diagnostic tool for NDs: (1) droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) with high precise measurements of certain blood biomarkers, (2) graphene-based biosensing of blood biomarkers, (3) Electroencephalogram (EEG) for measuring brain activities, (4) Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) for the monitoring and modulation of neural network activity, and (5) Field Asymmetric Ion Mobility Spectrometry (FAIMS) to detect Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled breath.
We aim to recruit cohorts of 200 Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), 200 amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI) due to AD, 200 Parkinson’s disease (PD), 200 MCI due to PD and 300 Healthy Controls (HC) from multiple sites over 5 years. Participants will be invited to consent to the collection of samples and undergo assessments undertaking at screening and baseline, 6-month, 12-month, 18-month and 24-month follow-ups.
In the first phase of the study, small cohorts containing 20 subjects with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) due to AD and 20 healthy controls subjects will be recruited within 6 months from the start of the study. Participants will be invited to consent to the collection of samples and undergo assessments undertaking at screening, baseline and month 12. Relevant diagnostic strategies will be developed to test the feasibility of the study.
This study is highly novel and has the potential to significantly impact on clinical practice by developing a stable non-invasive early ND diagnosis tools with high sensitivity and specificity.
REC name
South Central - Oxford C Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/SC/0217
Date of REC Opinion
4 Jun 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion