VDP-32 [Funding] Hyperspectral imaging for early diagnosis of Alzheimer Disease

This proposal asks for 30.000 EUR to fund Mantis Photonics' camera technology for early screening of Alzheimer Disease.

• Business evaluation: Tyler Golato, Tim Peterson
• Shepherd: Koen De Lombaert
• Reviewers: Jason Colasanti, Tyler Stahl, Koen De Lombaert
• Sourced by: Koen De Lombaert

Simple Summary

Alzheimer’s Disease is the main cause of dementia worldwide. There is currently no easy way to diagnose it. As a result, patients get diagnosed too late, once their cognitive decline has started. Mantis Photonics AB is developing a hyperspectral camera for retinal imaging for the early screening of Alzheimer Disease via the detection of the Amyloid beta peptide. The retina displays similarities to the brain and spinal cord in terms of anatomy, functionality, response to insult, and immunology. Hence, the eye provides a unique window to the central nervous system without the need for expensive, invasive, and/or potentially harmful examinations. (https://alzres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13195-020-00715-1)

This camera will fit on a fundoscope routinely used by opticians and ophthalmologists. It will be developed to detect patients with high levels of amyloid up to 15 years before their cognitive ability declines. Earlier diagnosis will considerably increase chances to adopt a healthy lifestyle to reduce/postpone the risk of getting Alzheimer as well as increasing the chance of getting treatment in time.

Problem

Current methods to detect amyloid:

• Measuring amyloid plaques in the brain directly with amyloid PET scan. This is a lengthy and costly procedure.
• FDA approved retinal camera by Optina (FDA 510(k) clearance for its Mydriatic Hyperspectral Retinal Camera (MHRC-C1) in 2020). This camera uses its own light source; it cannot be mounted on a fundoscope and is very expensive. Estimated at >50k Euro, hindering mass adoption.

Opportunity

Mantis Photonics is developing a hyperspectral camera that can be easily added to routine fundoscopy at opticians and ophthalmologists for the detection of amyloid deposits in the retina. There is peer-reviewed proof-of-concept research supporting hyperspectral retinal imaging to classify AD patients vs controls (https://alzres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13195-020-00715-1). This camera is a follow-on diagnostic as there’s an existing camera developed by Optina. This proves clinical validity as well as regulatory approval. Optina’s camera is estimated to be at least 5x the cost of Mantis. Optina’s camera is also a standalone device instead of an add-on to existing workflow

The team is seeking bridge funding until their seed round later this year to collect in vivo data in mice/humans of their camera.

IP Roadmap

The Mantis Photonics camera technology is protected by two patents (P436042SE00 & SE542835C2).

Team

Diego Guenot, PhD is CTO and the inventor of the hyper spectral camera patent. He is an expert in Laser and Photonics with a PhD at Lund University and has started working on this topic in 2018.

Denis Hellebuyck is CEO. He is an electro-mechanical engineer. Denis has previously worked in several startups in Belgium, Italy, and South Africa.

Jan Alexander is software developer and AI specialist.

Budget

Bridge funds requested: 30,000 EUR

• 15k EUR for an improved version of the camera
• 15k EUR for clinical and preclinical verification testing

Strengths

• There is a FDA approved retina amyloid detection camera already on the market
• There is peer-reviewed proof-of-concept research supporting hyperspectral retinal imaging to classify AD patients
• Ability to become a platform diagnostic for several aging related and other conditions: AMD, diabetic retinopathy, etc
• Team
• Relatively low valuation of Mantis Photonics at this time ($3-4M)

Risks

• Prototype stage
• Mantis has no data in mice/humans that camera works
• Questions around amyloid in pathophysiology of AD

Outcome of the evaluation and recommendation

Of all the evaluators, 3 independently scored the project proposal on different categories as either: (1) Outstanding, (2) Strong, (3) Satisfactory, (4) Weak, (5) Unacceptable, (N/A) Not enough information provided, or (N/A) Not my area of expertise. This is a summary of the results:

• Novelty and Impact: (2) Strong (1/3 evaluators), (3) Satisfactory (2/3 evaluators)
• Feasibility and Data: (N/A) Not enough information provided (1/3 evaluators); (5) Unacceptable (1/3 evaluators); (3) Satisfactory (1/3 evaluators)
• Relevance to longevity: (2) Strong (2/3 evaluators); (3) Satisfactory (1/3 evaluators)
• Science Team: (1) Outstanding (1/3 evaluators); (2) Strong (1/3 evaluators); (3) Satisfactory (1/3 evaluators)
• Market Advantage: (2) Strong (1/3 evaluators); (3) Satisfactory (2/3 evaluators)
• IP-NFT Potential: N/A (equity deal)

All the evaluators consider the project worth funding by the VitaDAO community.

For more information, please see the phase 2 proposal and discussion on Discourse.