BRAINSTORM - gloBal RetinAl Imaging coNSorTium fOR alzheiMer´s disease

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the leading cause of dementia, affecting 43,8 million people in 2016 and an estimated 130 million by 2050. There is an urgent need for low cost, minimally invasive and widely available screening and diagnostic tests. Retinal imaging offers the ideal solution.

The retina can be imaged non-invasively at high resolution using a range of methods including optical coherence tomography and hyperspectral imaging.

Though promising, these imaging methods have not yet been clinically validated and analysed concomitantly for the detection of preclinical AD.

The BRAINSTORM consortium brings together leading clinicians and scientists with diverse expertise in AD in neuropathology, ophthalmology, imaging and artificial intelligence to validate multimodal retinal imaging biomarkers of AD.

The project leverages established cohorts of deeply phenotyped cognitively normal individuals at risk of AD and draws on unique expertise in retinal imaging, image analysis, neuropathology and preclinical disease modelling.

A unique scientific asset is the ability of the consortium to correlate imaging findings with post-mortem human retinal tissue samples. BRAINSTORM addresses the national dementia research priorities of all partner countries in this consortium.

This program seeks to transform the clinical management of AD through improved detection of the disease in the preclinical stages in a non-invasive, rapid and cost-effective manner.