NETBALL
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Next generation blood and digital tests for the diagnosis of early Alzheimer's disease (NETBALL)
IRAS ID
355674
Contact name
Dennis Chan
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University College London
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Z6364106/2025/05/115, Data protection; 180385, EDGE
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
The anticipated arrival of new treatments with the potential to delay or prevent progression of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has increased the global need to deliver new tests with the ability to detect AD in its earliest stages, when such treatments will be of greatest benefit. As such, there is enormous interest in digital tests that may provide a high sensitivity and specificity readout of early disease that can be used in routine clinical services. Such tests would overcome the major limitations of currently used tests; PET- and CSF-based biomarker tests are expensive and invasive, while legacy cognitive tests have low sensitivity and specificity for early AD and are compromised by educational and cultural confounds which hamper their application to ethnic minorities and other diverse communities.
The primary aim of this study is to test the hypothesis that digital devices measuring functions of the medial temporal lobe (MTL), a brain region affected from the earliest stages of AD, can detect with high classification accuracy early AD when patients are in the prodromal phase of disease characterised clinically as mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The secondary aim of this study is to test the hypothesis that performance on MTL digital measures is i) predictive of amyloid/tau biomarker status, ii) correlates with blood levels of AD-related proteins
Study success will deliver high precision diagnostic tests that will improve accuracy of diagnosis of early AD and will also deliver crucial insights into the effect of early AD on brain function.
REC name
North West - Haydock Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
25/NW/0336
Date of REC Opinion
24 Nov 2025
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion