Health & Lifestyle

DIY fingerprick test for Alzheimer’s on the cards – and it will only cost £10, experts say

An at-home fingerprick test for Alzheimer’s could be on the horizon, experts say.

Researchers from the University of Exeter have designed a device that is able to analyse tiny molecules within blood to detect health conditions and diseases.

Their system can already identify whether someone is suffering from Long Covid by inspecting a single drop of blood.

The team expect to have a similar test for child allergies ready next year, and to be able to use the device to check for the menopause, fertility and healthy ageing by 2025.

And they even believe it could one day be used to detect early signs of Alzheimer’s or to predict someone’s individual risk of developing the devastating disease – for the cost of a pregnancy test.

The team are developing a hand-held device that could one day be used in homes to test for allergies, the menopause and even early stage Alzheimer’s

The team are developing a hand-held device that could one day be used in homes to test for allergies, the menopause and even early stage Alzheimer’s

The test, developed by a company called Attomarker, only requires 10 microliters of blood – 3,000 times less than the 30ml of blood usually required for routine hospital checks.

It works by using printed gold nanoparticles on an array of sensor spots.

The blood sample flows over the array and the spots are illuminated from below. The gold nanoparticles scatter the light and this pattern changes based on the biomarkers present in the blood, producing a result in as little as seven minutes.

The array is able to scan for up to 20 biomarkers – ‘medical signals’ – from the same tiny sample.

The tests are currently carried out on a benchtop instrument but the team are in the process of developing a handheld device that could be used in homes.

Other potential uses include tests for sepsis, liver health, hepatitis and diabetes.

One way the test could work for Alzheimer’s is to measures levels of a protein called tau, which is notorious for ‘tangling’ in the brains of patients suffering from dementia.

It is already known that measuring levels of tau can help predict the onset and progression of the disease.

But these currently require expensive brain scans or invasive lumbar punctures.

Detecting signs of the disease early could mean patients are able to get the help they need and provide reassurance to friends and family.

The device, which the team are designing for use with an iPhone, would cost around £300.

Each test would then cost in the region of £10-15.

Andrew Shaw, professor of chemistry at the University of Exeter and CEO of Attomarker, said: ‘You’ve got something quite like a laboratory in your hand.

‘I want the revolution.’

He said there are currently nine different proteins – seven linked to tau – that could indicate whether someone had the first indications of Alzheimer’s.

‘I’ve got to make the test work,’ he added. ‘Would I like to say that it would predict Alzheimer’s? That’s the future.

‘We’ve talked about it needing to be cheap. When I put the production line together, that’s the point at which I will be getting it [each individual test] out at £10 to £15 – the cost of a pregnancy test.’

He explained an iPhone app linked to the device would be able to analyse the data and interpret the results.

‘I think we need to prolong our life quality,’ he said. ‘There are two ways to die – dysregulation, like cancer, or decrepidation as you get older.

‘And either which way you want to make sure you have as much health span up until 80 before those two death processes take over.

‘And I want to maximise the time with my family.’

The device was presented at the British Science Festival in Exeter.


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