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BSU - VR Scent: Early Detection for Alzheimer's Disease
What is the ambitious goal of this project? To create a device incorporating smell and microfluidics technology that can be used in conjunction with commercially available virtual reality headsets to diagnose and treat Alzheimer’s disease.
Memory loss, confusion, and irritability are often the first symptoms that people associate with Alzheimer’s disease. However, by the time these symptoms are detected by clinicians – usually around age 65 – brain pathology has already progressed significantly.
This makes treatment especially difficult: attempting to restore lost brain function while preventing further deterioration is an uphill battle. Our team, composed of students and professors at Boise State University, is focused on detecting Alzheimer’s disease earlier to provide a better quality of life to those affected. We are focused on an early, often overlooked symptom: loss of smell.
People who are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s lose their sense of smell 5-10 years prior to diagnosis. Yet, people’s sense of smell is not routinely tested, nor do people notice a gradual decline in this neglected sense. We have created a device that attaches to the front of commercially-available virtual reality (VR) headsets and designed a scent identification game to quickly and easily measure a person’s olfactory abilities. We are harnessing eye tracking technology to identify subtle changes in a person’s subconscious and conscious odor identification, improving upon the primitive multiple-choice, pen-and-paper odor identification tests currently available.
Memory loss, confusion, and irritability are often the first symptoms that people associate with Alzheimer’s disease. However, by the time these symptoms are detected by clinicians – usually around age 65 – brain pathology has already progressed significantly.
This makes treatment especially difficult: attempting to restore lost brain function while preventing further deterioration is an uphill battle. Our team, composed of students and professors at Boise State University, is focused on detecting Alzheimer’s disease earlier to provide a better quality of life to those affected. We are focused on an early, often overlooked symptom: loss of smell.
People who are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s lose their sense of smell 5-10 years prior to diagnosis. Yet, people’s sense of smell is not routinely tested, nor do people notice a gradual decline in this neglected sense. We have created a device that attaches to the front of commercially-available virtual reality (VR) headsets and designed a scent identification game to quickly and easily measure a person’s olfactory abilities. We are harnessing eye tracking technology to identify subtle changes in a person’s subconscious and conscious odor identification, improving upon the primitive multiple-choice, pen-and-paper odor identification tests currently available.
