In a new study from Cantonal Hospital, researchers found a non-invasive diagnostic method that detects the early signs of dementia.
Forgetfulness and confusion can be signs of a currently incurable ailment: Alzheimer’s disease.
It is the most common form of dementia that currently affects around 50 million people worldwide. It mainly afflicts older people.
The fact that this number will increase sharply in the future is therefore also related to the general increase in life expectancy.
If dementia is suspected, neuropsychological examinations, laboratory tests and demanding procedures in the hospital are required.
However, the first neurodegenerative changes in the brain occur decades before a reduced cognitive ability becomes apparent.
Currently, these can only be detected by expensive or invasive procedures. These methods are thus not suitable for extensive early screenings on a larger scale.
For the new method, the team relied on a sensor belt that has already been used successfully for ECG measurements and has now been equipped with sensors for other relevant parameters such as body temperature and gait pattern.
This is because long before memory starts to deteriorate in dementia, subtle changes appear in the brain, which is expressed through unconscious bodily reactions.
These changes can only be recorded precisely when measurements are taken over a longer period of time, though.
Skin-friendly and comfortable monitoring systems are essential for measurements that are suitable for everyday use.
The diagnostic belt is therefore based on flexible sensors with electrically conductive or light-conducting fibers as well as sensors for motion and temperature measurement.
To enable such long-term measurements to be used for monitoring neurocognitive health, the researchers are integrating the collected data into in-house developed mathematical models.
The goal: an early warning system that can estimate the progression of cognitive impairment. Another advantage is that the data measurements can be integrated into telemonitoring solutions and can thus improve patient care in their familiar environment.
In a test, the researchers have now been able to show that altered skin temperature readings measured with the sensor belt actually provide an indication of the cognitive performance of test participants—and can do so well before dementia develops.
The people included healthy people with or without mild brain impairment. This mild cognitive impairment (MCI) does not represent a disability in everyday life, but it is considered a possible precursor to Alzheimer’s disease.
The team says with the new sensor system, any improvements in cognitive performance can be tracked through movement-based forms of therapy.
Studies with long-term monitoring will now be used to clarify how the sensor measurements can be used to predict the progression of mild brain disorders.
If you care about dementia risk, please read studies about heartburn drugs that could increase risk of dementia, and brown fat that could protect the brain from dementia.
For more information about brain health, please see recent studies about common liver drug may treat dementia effectively, and results showing that for men, height comes with a lower risk of dementia.
The study is published in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience and was conducted by Patrick Eggenber et al.
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