Software tool for improved prediction of Alzheimer's disease

Abstract

Background: Diagnostic criteria of Alzheimer's disease (AD) emphasize the integration of clinical data and biomarkers. In practice, collection and analysis of patient data vary greatly across different countries and clinics. Objective: The goal was to develop a versatile and objective clinical decision support system that could reduce diagnostic errors and highlight early predictors of AD. Methods: Novel data analysis methods were developed to derive composite disease indicators from heterogeneous patient data. Visualizations that communicate these findings were designed to help the interpretation. The methods were implemented with a software tool that is aimed for daily clinical practice. Results: With the tool, clinicians can analyze available patients as a whole, study them statistically against previously diagnosed cases, and characterize the patients with respect to having AD. The tool is able to work with virtually any patient measurement data, as long as they are stored in electronic format or manually entered into the system. For a subset of patients from the test cohort, the tool was able to predict conversion to AD at an accuracy of 93.6%. Conclusion: The software tool developed in this study provides objective information for early detection and prediction of AD based on interpretable visualizations of patient data. Copyright © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel.