West China Hospital Licenses Two Gastrointestinal Signal-Based Neurological Disorder Early Screening Technologies for RMB 2.06 Million

Recently, West China Hospital of Sichuan University issued an announcement stating that it would grant implementation licenses for two invention patents related to the prediction of neurological diseases. The licensing method is exclusive licensing, with the proposed transaction price set at RMB 2.06 million through a valuation and agreement-based pricing approach. Currently, this transaction has passed the public notice period.

It is worth noting that both inventions involved in this transaction were developed by Professor Chen Lei’s team. Professor Chen Lei serves as Vice President of West China Hospital and is a Professor of Neurology, specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy, migraine, cognitive dysfunction, and perinatal neurological disorders. She has published more than 100 academic papers, served as editor-in-chief of the world’s first monographs on Female Epilepsy and Perinatal Neurological Diseases, and has received numerous honors, including the Third Prize for Sichuan Provincial Science and Technology Progress, the First Prize (Young Scientist Award) for Sichuan Provincial Medical Science and Technology Progress, as well as the titles of “Academic and Technical Leader” from the Sichuan Provincial Health Commission and “Sichuan Province Outstanding Young Scientific and Technological Talent.”

The other party to the transaction, Beijing Jisi Mingzhi Technology Co., Ltd., has also been deeply engaged in the field of brain science for many years. It has independently developed the world’s first “Auxiliary Assessment System for Brain Physiology and Cognitive Functions,” and has established close collaborations with numerous Grade-A tertiary hospitals across China on neurodegenerative diseases and psychiatric and psychological disorders. The company has collected high-precision eye-tracking data covering individuals of various age groups, patients with diverse diseases, and healthy controls, accumulating over 10,000 records of high-precision eye-tracking data. Furthermore, it maintains long-term, stable partnerships with leading universities, research institutes, and national key laboratories in China.

So, what makes the two invention patents that have brought these two powerhouses together for this collaboration so compelling?

The two patents involved in this transaction share two common characteristics: first, both employ gastrointestinal electrical signal detection technology; second, both are applied in the screening of certain neurological disorders, specifically for cognitive impairment and epilepsy.

For a long time, large-scale early screening for certain chronic neurological disorders, notably cognitive impairment and epilepsy, has faced significant challenges. Taking the screening of cognitive impairment as an example, the primary methods currently used in clinical diagnosis include basic clinical symptom assessment, neuropsychological evaluation, imaging studies such as computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), as well as fluid-based tests including complete blood count, cerebrospinal fluid analysis, and antibody detection.

However, despite the diversity and richness of diagnostic methods, they cannot be standardized and popularized on a large scale due to challenges such as time-consuming processes, low efficiency, heavy workloads, difficult sampling, high costs, and issues with objective results.

Therefore, large-scale early screening for cognitive impairment requires a simple, efficient, highly reliable, non-invasive, and even imperceptible detection method. West China Hospital’s “Prediction System for Cognitive Impairment Based on Gastrointestinal Electrical Signals and Its Construction Method” is precisely such a solution.

Specifically, West China Hospital’s “Cognitive Impairment Prediction System Based on Gastrointestinal Electrical Signals” primarily comprises a database, a data acquisition module, a data training module, and a prediction module. By acquiring data such as postprandial gastric dominant frequency, percentage of postprandial gastric dysrhythmia, postprandial gastric dominant power ratio, postprandial intestinal lead time difference, as well as age, body mass index (BMI), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL), the system predicts the probability of subjects developing cognitive impairment.

It is evident that the method for predicting cognitive dysfunction provided by this invention does not involve costly or even invasive procedures such as body fluid tests or imaging examinations. Consequently, it is more affordable and poses no harm to the subjects. Furthermore, this method eliminates the need for subjects to complete rating scales, thereby avoiding biases stemming from physicians’ subjective experience and subjects’ educational levels, ensuring objective and direct test results. Moreover, due to its non-invasive nature and simple procedure, the invention achieves higher subject acceptance and compliance.

Overall, this invention features non-invasiveness, ease of operation, low cost, and objective test results, making it particularly suitable for preliminary screening and early detection of cognitive impairment in large populations (e.g., communities and health examination centers).

As for the second invention patent—“Epilepsy Prediction System Based on Gastrointestinal Electrical Signals and Its Construction Method”—it addresses many of the challenges currently faced in large-scale epilepsy screening.

It is reported that the diagnosis of epilepsy currently relies primarily on patient medical history and diagnostic tests such as electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). However, in practice, these methods are difficult to apply to large-scale epilepsy screening. This is because, in a mass screening setting, relying solely on subjects’ verbal descriptions of seizure symptoms makes it challenging even for experienced clinicians to make accurate judgments under time constraints and with insufficient objective evidence.

On the other hand, examinations such as electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) require specialized equipment, making them difficult to deploy in large-scale screening programs. Furthermore, requiring participants to visit hospitals for these tests not only increases their costs but may also exacerbate psychological burden, potentially leading to resistance or non-compliance.

The “Epilepsy Prediction System Based on Gastrointestinal Electrical Signals,” provided by West China Hospital, predicts the probability of epileptic seizures in subjects by detecting parameters such as preprandial gastric lead time difference, preprandial intestinal lead time difference, preprandial intestinal dominant power ratio, preprandial intestinal percentage of normal slow waves, postprandial gastric mean waveform frequency, postprandial intestinal lead time difference, and the difference in gastric dominant power ratio between preprandial and postprandial states.

Overall, existing mainstream methods for epilepsy diagnosis are difficult to popularize on a large scale due to constraints in time, human resources, and funding. In contrast, West China Hospital’s “Epilepsy Prediction System Based on Gastrointestinal Electrical Signals” features non-invasiveness, procedural simplicity, low cost, and no need for additional examinations, leading to higher subject acceptance and compliance. These advantages facilitate the widespread adoption of large-scale epilepsy screening.

In recent years, early screening and diagnosis for certain neurological diseases have been vigorously promoted, giving rise to a substantial market size.

Taking Alzheimer’s disease as an example, according to estimates by LeadLeo Research Institute, the market size for Alzheimer’s diagnosis in China rose from RMB 19.13 billion in 2016 to RMB 21.75 billion in 2020, and is expected to reach RMB 26.02 billion by 2025. In the future, with increased attention to the disease and greater awareness of regular screening, the long-term market size for Alzheimer’s diagnosis in China is projected to exceed the RMB 100 billion mark.

The current market, valued in the tens of billions, has already become somewhat crowded. Specifically, the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease falls into “several major schools”—neuropsychological scales, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), biomarker testing of cerebrospinal fluid and peripheral blood, and assessments based on eye movements, gait, and other metrics.

Among these, neuropsychological scales are widely used in clinical practice as a tool for screening cognitive impairment. However, due to their time-consuming nature and susceptibility to factors such as the subject’s educational level, text comprehension ability, and the physician’s subjective experience, the objectivity of the test results has been somewhat compromised.

Although imaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can accurately reflect changes in brain structure, they cannot identify the cognitive status of subjects before structural changes occur. Consequently, this method is unable to determine whether a subject has cognitive impairment during the period from disease onset to the emergence of structural brain changes. Furthermore, the high cost and limited accessibility of MRI further hinder its large-scale application in screening for Alzheimer’s disease and its early-stage progression.

Regarding cerebrospinal fluid and peripheral blood testing, numerous domestic and international companies have already established their presence in this field. For instance, KingMed Diagnostics launched a peripheral blood p-Tau181 testing service in 2022. Leveraging ultra-sensitive single-molecule immunoassay and chemiluminescence platforms, this test requires only a small volume of peripheral blood for early screening of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This approach reduces the burden of invasive sampling in elderly patients, effectively improves screening rates, and facilitates the earlier prevention and management of AD.

Subsequently, building on p-Tau181 testing, KingMed Diagnostics has established a comprehensive suite of diagnostic services covering the entire disease course of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). It offers testing for multiple related biomarkers, spanning the full spectrum of AD diagnosis and treatment, thereby assisting clinicians in achieving whole-course management of AD.

Furthermore, YHLO has collaborated with Academician Yan Xiyun from the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, to develop an Alzheimer’s disease diagnostic product using CD146 as a biomarker, while also establishing assays for β-amyloid 42 (Aβ42), total tau (T-tau), and phosphorylated tau 181 (p-tau 181) in both cerebrospinal fluid and blood.

In addition to the aforementioned detection methods, innovative approaches are continually emerging. For instance, the world’s first “Assistant Assessment System for Brain Physiology and Cognitive Function,” developed by Jisi Mingzhi as mentioned earlier, achieves auxiliary assessment of brain physiological and cognitive functions by collecting eye-tracking data from subjects under multiple specific oculomotor behavioral paradigms and comprehensively analyzing the eye-tracking parameters across these paradigms.

Currently, the product has completed GCP clinical trials involving 400 cases at West China Hospital and the Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu University, achieving an accuracy rate of up to 85%, thereby providing more innovative and cutting-edge diagnostic technology support for clinical practice.

The recent authorization of two inventions by West China Hospital also signals that Jisi Mingzhi will continue to explore the practical application of innovative screening technologies for brain science and neurological diseases in the future. This achievement is a microcosm of the relentless exploration by domestic enterprises in this field. The story of Chinese companies’ involvement in the diagnosis and treatment of neurological disorders will continue to unfold.