diaMentis reaches an important milestone in optimizing and accelerating the diagnosis of mental illnesses
QUEBEC, Feb. 5, 2025 /PRNewswire/ - Holder of an innovative diagnostic support technology, recognized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a major scientific breakthrough, diaMentis unveils unprecedented results for the optimization and acceleration of mental illness diagnosis, marking a significant turning point for the Quebec-based company.
Highlighted in the peer-reviewed international journal Biomedical Signal Processing and Control, diaMentis' study reveals previously unexplored areas of the retinal signal, and identifies new key factors to better differentiate mental disorders. This breakthrough will notably enable much more efficient diagnosis of mental illnesses, including schizophrenia and type 1 bipolar disorder.
These results could be pivotal in driving a major paradigm shift in mental health management, significantly reducing the overall burden of institutional and community care. Provided that the necessary additional capital and resources are secured, diaMentis' innovative diagnostic support technology could be applied to other therapeutic fields that also need modernization.
What the study reveals
- The study highlights the relevance of high-density retinal signals for deciphering biosignatures, as described in diaMentis' patent portfolio and patent applications.
- The study confirms the exceptional performances of diaMentis' prediction models and its patented RSPA® (retinal signal processing and analysis) concept. This system uses high-density retinal signals to build mathematical functions that predict whether a patient presents a pathological condition.
- The predictor mappings show that important classifiers are located in areas of the retinal signal that have never been studied before. This allows for extracting multiple biomarkers, spread across the entire dataset, unlike conventional ERG components that are rarer and less visible.
The complete version of the study is available in Biomedical Signal Processing and Control.
Addressing the challenges in diagnosing certain mental illnesses
Scientists have long established that an accurate diagnosis in the early stages of a psychotic disorder is likely to lead to earlier relevant treatment with shorter duration of untreated psychosis episodes, which in turn will improve long-term functioning in most patients.
Since symptoms may not yet be fully expressed at the onset of the illness, may develop slowly, and/or may overlap with other conditions, frequent misdiagnoses or long delays of five to ten years can occur, despite the high qualifications of clinicians, who are sometimes numerous specialists to be involved for a single patient123.
- In the United States, more than 57.8 million adults suffer from one of these diseases leading to more than 300 million medical consultations annually, and estimated mental health costing the US economy more than USD $280B annually45.
- In Canada, the incidence of adults experiencing significant symptoms of mental illness, and associated estimated healthcare system and economic impacts, are relatively similar to the US6.
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1 | Baldessarini RJ et al. Bipolar Disord. 2007 Jun;9(4):386-93. |
2 | Drancourt N et al. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 2013 Feb;127(2):136-44. |
3 | Berk M et al. J Affect Disord. 2007 Nov;103(1-3):181-6. |
4 | National Alliance on Mental Illness 2021- - https://www.nami.org/mhstats |
5 | Sperling J, Columbia Business School, Business & Society, 2024. - https://business.columbia.edu/insights/business-society/mental-health-costing-us-economy-billions-increasing-access-could-be |
6 | Statistics Canada, Insights on Canadian Society, https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/75-006-x/2023001/article/00011-eng.htm, September 22, 2024 |
QUOTES
"The results of our study could be pivotal in driving a major paradigm shift in mental health management and significantly reducing the overall burden of institutional and community care. To the extent that the additional capital and resources needed are obtained, our breakthrough technology could be applied to other therapeutic areas that also need modernization."
- Normand Tremblay, President and CEO, diaMentis
"Over the past few months, the interim analysis of the clinical study results and the refinement of our mathematical models have led to exceptional outcomes. These results encourage us to continue our goal of transforming and modernizing the way patients with SZ and BP1 are diagnosed, thus enabling optimal management care."
- Claude Hariton, PhD, DSc. VP & Chief Scientific Officer (CSO)
About diaMentis
Arising from research conducted at Laval University, diaMentis holds intellectual property rights over retinal signal analysis and has an approved patent in the United States, with pending patent applications in several countries. The company has over 100 individual and institutional shareholders. Given the increasingly strong scientific evidence, diaMentis is now seeking to raise an additional USD $17.5 million, with $7.5 million allocated to the completion of its validation study at U.S. and Canadian clinical sites, and $10 million allocated to the completion of all aspects related to the industrialization of its solutions, including the continuation of its first wave of regulatory approvals in the U.S. and Canada.
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SOURCE diaMentis