NeuroTrack Files IPO Prospectus: Pioneering Early Prediction of Alzheimer's Disease Up to 6 Years in Advance

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), also known as senile dementia, is a progressive disorder that severely impairs memory, thinking, and behavior. Early symptoms include mild memory loss; over time, the condition worsens, eventually leading to severe amnesia, with patients even forgetting their own family members. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia and ranks among the most devastating and costly conditions to treat. It is estimated that the number of affected individuals will reach 16 million by 2050.

For years, research has shown that Alzheimer’s disease causes pathological changes in beta-amyloid and tau proteins in different regions of the brain. Therefore, typical diagnosis relies on this phenomenon, combined with patient diagnostic interviews, discussions of family medical history, a series of neuropsychological tests, or analyses using brain imaging and cerebrospinal fluid. Although these tests can identify whether a person has Alzheimer’s disease, they cannot predict the onset of the disease in advance. In fact, once symptoms appear, the disease may have already been affecting the brain for 20 years, silently damaging the memory centers.



Getting to Know NeuroTrack

In 2012, NeuroTrack, a company founded in Palo Alto, California, developed a set of behavioral biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease detection using computer-based analysis, helping physicians make earlier and more accurate diagnoses. Additionally, this technology assists pharmaceutical companies in recruiting valuable participants for clinical trials.

The project, funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) for five years, is responsible for validating the non-invasiveness and safety of the experiments. NeuroTrack believes that early diagnosis and detection are key to treating Alzheimer’s disease. The company’s product can detect signs of the disease three to six years before significant neurological changes occur in patients, thereby predicting the likelihood of developing mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease.



In simple terms, NeuroTrack’s technology is a computer vision-based cognitive test that uses algorithmic analysis to detect early signs of hippocampal disruption. The test takes only five minutes for clinicians to administer in-office, requires no additional training for patients, is easy to operate, language-independent, and entirely non-invasive. It delivers objective and reliable results at a low cost, making it suitable for flexible use in clinical trials as well as for annual Alzheimer’s disease screening.

NeuroTrack secured $2 million in investment, led by tech mogul Peter Thiel. An early investor in Facebook and a highly influential biotechnology investor, Thiel hailed NeuroTrack as highly disruptive and expressed strong confidence in the company’s future prospects.

Interview with the CEO

Elli Kaplan, the CEO of NeuroTrack, is a rare female executive whose 20-year career has spanned both the public and private sectors. She has held positions at the White House, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). She has also served in senior leadership roles at AIG Capital Partners, Goldman Sachs, and various startups. Kaplan holds a degree from Mount Holyoke College and an MBA from Harvard University. She believes that NeuroTrack’s technology holds significant clinical value by predicting disease onset before treatment becomes necessary, thereby eliminating the risks and costs associated with therapeutic interventions.



In March 2013, Nerotrack won the Health Grand Prize at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Startup Accelerator. At the awards ceremony, Elli Kaplan stated that Nerotrack’s achievements were not accomplished overnight; rather, they culminated from 25 years of scientific research. Neuroscientists at the University of California, San Diego, were the first to initiate this research. Subsequently, the study of this condition received millions of dollars in grants, encouraging numerous laboratories to actively engage in the effort. After several years of development, the research ultimately transcended the confines of purely academic theory and achieved broader practical application value.

At that point, the researchers approached Kaplan to collaborate on this initiative. As a mother of two who had personally witnessed the suffering caused by her grandparents’ Alzheimer’s disease, Kaplan came to regard fighting the disease as her lifelong mission. The key researchers at the time included lead investigator Stuart Zola (now at Emory University), Elizabeth Buffalo, Eugene Agichtein, and Cecelia Manzanares. The company participated in Rock Health’s Boston accelerator program for one summer and was officially founded on January 1, 2012.

They plan to sell the experimental results to pharmaceutical companies, physicians (with FDA approval), or research hospitals. In the early stages, pharmaceutical companies are the most likely buyers, as the greatest obstacle to treating this disease is currently the inability to diagnose it in its early stages. However, patients who have been tested and informed of their risk probability will now change their lifestyle habits—such as exercising more, adjusting their diet, or taking medication—to delay the onset of the disease. Kaplan stated that, similar to breast cancer, by the time cancer is detected via X-ray, it has already progressed to stage four, a point at which the condition is essentially irreversible. For Alzheimer’s disease, individuals around the age of 50 should undergo annual testing, and patients with a family history of the disease should also be screened at an earlier stage.

Kaplan believes that Nerotrack’s testing technology will first be integrated into smartphones. Within a decade, pills for treating the disease are expected to become available, enabling people to undergo screening just once a year. Should any signs of the disease be detected, they can calmly and proactively take appropriate measures.

NeuroTrackTechnology

The company's core technology is infrared eye-tracking testing, a subject that has been extensively studied in academia for many years.
In 2000, academic studies using monkeys as experimental subjects found that the hippocampus plays a key role in normal cognitive memory, and that hippocampal memory engrams are associated with the formation of declarative memory.
In 2009, studies showed that eye-tracking experiments during visual paired-comparison tests could provide early warnings for dementia.
In 2013, another academic report proposed that utilizing infrared eye-tracking technology to perform visual paired comparison (VPC) tasks could enable early prediction of Alzheimer’s disease. This paper provides a detailed description of the experiments.

First, since VPC testing involves eye movements, individuals with poor vision (such as those with retinal detachment or glaucoma) are unable to undergo the test. For those who do not meet the physiological requirements (such as patients with ptosis or cataracts), eye-tracking devices cannot obtain adequate pupil and corneal reflection data. Additionally, individuals who are unable to complete the calibration procedure are also ineligible for testing.
The experimental equipment included a 6000 chinrest-mounted camera system from the Applied Science Laboratories (ASL) Model to record participants’ eye movements. The system sampled at a frequency of 20 Hz, with gaze angle determined by the relative positions of the cornea and pupil center. The setup also comprised a 19-inch flat-panel monitor and ASL EYEPOS software for recording eye movement data.
The test material consists of high-contrast black-and-white clip art (measuring 4.4 x 6.5 feet). A different image is used for each test session.
The entire process resembles a psychological test. Specifically, the participant sits comfortably in front of the monitor with their chin resting on the chin rest, and a 9-point array is used to calibrate eye position.
The entire test, including calibration, lasts for 25–30 minutes. The Visual Paired Comparison (VPC) task consists of two phases: a warm-up session for familiarization followed by the formal experiment. During the test, two adjacent images are displayed for 5 seconds; one image is similar to one presented in the warm-up phase, while the other is a novel image. The spatial positions of the two images are randomized. After each trial, the monitor screen goes black for 10 seconds before the next trial begins. Fixation is defined as maintaining gaze within a 1° visual angle for more than 100 milliseconds. Ultimately, VPC scores can distinguish between amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI) and Alzheimer’s disease, as well as between normal controls and individuals with aMCI. By observing differences in how subjects view novel versus familiar images, abnormal perturbations in hippocampal function can be detected.



Based on the aforementioned scientific experiments, NeuroTrack has developed two testing products. Product 1: The subject sits in front of a computer equipped with an eye-tracking device. The patient compares new and old images, and judgments are made based on the time taken to distinguish between them. Healthy individuals spend more time fixating on new images; if the viewing time for new and old images is equal, it may indicate mild hippocampal impairment. Those scoring below 50% on the test are certain to develop Alzheimer’s disease within the next six years, while those scoring above 67% will not develop the disease. Product 2: This product does not require an eye tracker, making it more convenient to use. The improved test utilizes a mouse or trackpad. The test content is similar, but the images are blurred; the user controls a viewing aperture with the mouse to focus on the images, making them clearer. Since mouse movements are closely correlated with eye movements, this method yields equivalent testing results.

Financing Status

Company Name: NeuroTrack Technologies. On May 22, 2013, it secured $90,000 in seed funding; on September 26, 2013, it raised $2 million in Series A funding from investors including Rock Health, Founders Fund, and The Social+Capital Partnership; on December 29, 2014, it obtained $1 million in debt financing.

 

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