SBIR Phase I: Early and Specific Dementia Diagnosis Using Imaging and Pattern Classification Software

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This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop computer software that automatically analyzes medical images to diagnose brain diseases affecting the elderly (such as Alzheimer's disease) that cause difficulty with memory, thinking, judgment, and other normal functions. Such diseases affecting the elderly share similar symptoms, so they can be very difficult to diagnose and it is even more difficult to predict whether the patient will worsen. The software we will develop will use a patient's brain scan to determine which disease the patient actually has, and if the disease is Alzheimer's, the software will determine the stage of progression of the disease, and will aim to predict future decline. The broader/commercial impacts of this research are numerous. This project will create new jobs by launching a new business that will lead to the first product of its kind. The market for the proposed product is very large, and the applicant company is well placed for commercialization, as its parent companies are already in the business of providing brain-image analysis for the pharmaceutical industry, and have already been providing preliminary diagnostic reports on patients for select clinicians on a research basis. During the project, input and feedback will be sought from a major drug company, a major imaging manufacturer, and leading physicians, to ensure that the product meets real-world needs of patient and health-care providers, and carefully considers critical issues for commercialization.