Alzheimer's-detecting technology Neurotrack takes SXSW prize
Eye-tracking technology claims to identify ailment six years before symptoms appear
A technology capable of diagnosing Alzheimer's disease long before its symptoms appear won an honour for innovation at last week's South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, in the US state of Texas.
Neurotrack, which uses eye tracking to achieve a claimed 100 per cent success rate, clinched the health technologies category in the SXSW Accelerator competition as the festival's interactive segment drew to a close.
"It's a computer-based visual cognitive test that is able to diagnose Alzheimer's disease six years before symptoms appear," said Elli Kaplan, chief executive officer of the upstart based in the US state of Virginia. "Today the only way to diagnose Alzheimer's is once full symptoms are in existence, but that's years after irreparable damage has already taken place."
Initial users of Neurotrack will be pharmaceutical manufacturers. They will employ it in their development of drugs to prevent, or at least slow the progression of, the most common form of dementia, she added.
But in time, Kaplan said, it would be rolled out to doctors' offices and research hospitals - and potentially, a smartphone and tablet app that individuals can use as well.
SXSW Accelerator is a showcase for up-and-coming news, social, mobile, web, entertainment, health and music technologies.
One of its 2010 winners, the voice recognition software Siri, is now standard equipment in Apple iPhones.
