After Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disease, affecting 0.3% of the general population in western countries, with 100,000 sufferers in France and 8,000 new diagnoses each year. Its prevalence increases with age, reaching 1% in those above the age of 60 years, and as much as 4% in the over-80s.

An announcement made by EyeBrain, a company that develops medical devices for the early diagnosis of neurological diseases, states that the company’s EyeBrain Tracker device will be used in a clinical trial that will explore the dyskinesia induced by treating patients suffering from idiopathic Parkinson’s disease with levodopa. The trials’ endpoint is to identify biomarkers for the late-onset complications of a treatment regime using levodopa (BIODYS). This compound, naturally transformed into dopamine in the brain, is the only drug available that can slow down the effects of Parkinson’s disease, however, it induces dyskinesia in these patients over time, which is characterized as abnormal movements that primarily affect the face (tongue, lips, jaw) and extends as far as the arms and legs.

Researchers will involve a total of 30 people in the trial, half of these will be Parkinson’s sufferers who will received treatment with levodopa and who have developed dyskinesia, while the other half will be the control group consisting of healthy subjects.

The trial, set up by professor Jean-François Tison, a neurologist at the CNRS Physiopathology of Parkinsonian syndromes unit at the University of Bordeaux Two (the Institute of Neurodegenerative Diseases, CNRS UMR 5293E, Bezard) is being sponsored and financed by Bordeaux University Hospital, whilst the EyeBrain Tracker device is being funded under the joint 2007-2013 State-Region Plan (Aquitaine Regional Council and the FEDER fund).

Professor Tison explained:

“Patients suffering from idiopathic Parkinson’s disease will undergo an acute test as part of a pre-operational assessment for stimulating the deep recesses of the brain.”

The EyeBrain Tracker will evaluate and measure patients’ motricity effects through speed of eye movements.

Tison said:

“We will see whether levodopa modifies the parameters of blinking in a way that is correlated with the improvement in motricity. Using the EyeBrain Tracker enables us to measure the motricity effect through eye movements, since the blinking parameters are also linked to the patient’s general motricity. The patient’s response to this trial is also a predictor of their reaction to the neurosurgery that will follow.”

The EyeBrain Tracker has already been utilized for early diagnosis of Parkinsonian syndromes, such as progressive supra-nuclear paralysis (PSP), cortico-basal degeneration (CBD) and multiple systems atrophy (MSA). With the new trial, the device is broadening its field of application as a valuable aid in the early diagnosis and follow-up of these diseases, and now plays a significant part in clinical research into other neurological diseases, such as multiple sclerosis.

The chairman of EyeBrain, Serge Kinkingnéhun states:

“We are delighted to know that the EyeBrain Tracker is playing a part in a clinical trial targeting idiopathic Parkinson’s. This forms part of our goal of making the benefits of eye motricity available to a larger number of people suffering from neurological pathologies.”

eyebraintracker

EyeBrain Tracker allows clinicians for the first time to depend on a simple set of eye movement parameters to differentiate between very similar syndromes, such as progressive supra-nuclear paralysis (PSP) and cortico-basal degeneration (CBD). The tests are easy to perform, non-invasive and low-cost, with results being available in less than 20 minutes.

The Mobile EyeBrain Tracker (EBT) is a complete unit, including headphones, a computer with two monitors and software for stimulation and analysis and is already routinely utilized in hospitals to assist in the early characterization of Parkinsonian syndromes, with studies also underway for the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS).

The Mobile EBT is a globally novel device that has obtained CE marking in addition to the company’s ISO-9001 and ISO-13485 certification.

EyeBrain is based in the Paris suburb of Ivry-sur-Seine

Written by: Petra Rattue