Technology
Neuroptix is developing technologies to enable non-invasive quantitative measurements of amyloid aggregates in the eye, to examine and measure deposits in specific areas of the lens as a means of early detection of Alzheimer’s disease.
Neuroptix’s development of the SAPPHIRE platform envisions a compact, easy to use, clinical device for in situ patient examination in a doctor’s office setting.
Preclinical testing of the SAPPHIRE platform has yielded highly encouraging results, including the discovery that the SAPPHIRE system was sensitive enough to be able to detect the presence of beta amyloid proteins in genetically-engineered Alzheimer’s mice at an early stage in the disease progression.
The combined platform is currently available in the United States for investigational use only, and is intended for clinical evaluation and measurement of aggregation in anatomically defined regions of the anterior segment of the eye.
Neuroptix is also developing new diagnostic agents for application in screening for Alzheimer’s disease.
Fluorescent Ligand Scanning (FLS)
Fluorescent Ligand Scanning (FLS) is a technique in which a compound composed of beta amyloid-specific small molecules is dropped into a patient’s eye, which is scanned by the Neuroptix SAPPHIRE instrument.
The small molecules are absorbed into the lens and bind to the amyloid aggregates. The FLS system excites the fluorescent ligands that bind to amyloid and quantitatively measures emissions in specific anatomical locations to biochemically confirm the presence of amyloid.
The binding compounds emit light in a specific, detectable range of wavelengths. If binding increases over time, a positive diagnosis can be made, enabling clinicians to track the progress of the disease in patients by measuring levels of fluorescence – as well as potentially enabling doctors and pharmaceutical researchers to monitor the efficacy of Alzheimer’s drugs in clinical trial settings.