CChES researchers develop pioneering ‘laser test’ for dementia

CChES researchers are working with colleagues at the University Hospital Southampton (UHS) on a pioneering study to investigate a new laser-based test that could rapidly detect different types of dementia early in the disease. 

There are more than 982,000 people living with dementia in the UK and that figure is expected to rise to 1.4 million by 2040. 

There are many different types of the condition and distinguishing between them is difficult. It can take more than two years to get a diagnosis using current methods, and many people don’t receive one until a much later stage of the disease when treatment options are less effective.

Biochemical fingerprinting

The Holistic Optical Biomarkers to Transform Dementia Diagnosis (HOpE) project, led by CChES’s Professor Sumeet Mahajan and Professor Chris Kipps from UHS, has developed a new test to overcome these challenges. 

It works by profiling a ‘biochemical fingerprint’ which experts believe can aid diagnosis; initial results suggest accuracy of up to 93%. 

Based on a new in-house developed innovation called multi-excitation Raman spectroscopy (MX-Raman), the technology uses lasers to analyse the composition of a single drop of a bodily fluid – this can be blood, spinal fluid or mucus. The revolutionary test can provide results in seconds and would be much cheaper than other diagnostic tests currently available. It could also be made available directly in a clinical setting.

Improving outcomes for people with dementia 

Sumeet, who is Professor of Molecular Biophotonics and Imaging, says: “Our integrated approach has the potential to revolutionise dementia diagnostics. There is an urgent unmet clinical need for more discriminatory, efficient and cost-effective solutions. 

“Our holistic MX-Raman technique is uniquely equipped to address these challenges, and we want to see this technology leading to vastly improved patient outcomes.” 

The project is among the first to be funded by a new award from UK Research and Innovation called the ‘Cross Research Council Responsive Mode’, which supports emerging ideas from the research community spanning many disciplines. 

HOpE is one of 36 projects to receive this new funding out of almost 900 applications submitted by research teams across the UK. 

The project will share £32.4m from the first round of a UKRI scheme. 

Related expertise

Professor Sumeet Mahajan
Novel chemical biology methods, non-destructive chemical analysis, non-invasive chemical imaging, biomedical device development and neurodiagnostics