Student shows dedication to Alzheimer’s prevention through startup Synapto

Since his grandfather was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease during his senior year of high school, Dhruv Patel has been asking himself the same question: how can a disease so deadly and widespread only often be detected after it is too late?

Alzheimer’s Disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S. and affects over 5.5 million Americans, according to the CDC and Alzheimer’s Association. As widespread as the disease is, there is still a lack of normal screening procedures for patients who might be at risk of developing it. 

Frustrated by his grandfather’s diagnosis process, the absence of early detection procedures for Alzheimer’s Disease and seeing an opportunity to make a difference in the world, Patel, a senior bioengineering major at the University of Maryland, turned his grief and confusion into determination and tenacity. 

“Our goal is to make Alzheimer’s screening more accessible earlier on and affordable,” said Patel, “One of the biggest problems right now is that Alzheimer’s diagnosis is not routine. By the time you have clinical symptoms presented, it is already too late.”

Along with a team of other undergraduate students, Patel started his own bioengineering company in 2017 focused on developing neurodiagnostic technology, called Synapto. Together, the Synapto team developed a machine-learning program that uses brainwave data, from both healthy and Alzheimer’s Disease sufferers, to screen patients for potential disease developments. Patel believes that this artificial intelligence program paired with a portable EEG brainwave scanner helmet could have the potential to provide patients with life saving information. 

According to Mary Angela Decena, a nurse practitioner at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, symptoms of the disease appear very subtle at first. Patel believes the combination of subtle symptoms and lack of inexpensive and less invasive diagnostic tests for the disease is what leads many patients to suffer for years without a diagnosis.

The technology that Synapto is developing has the potential to give patients and their families the most important resource according to Decena, time. 

“Time with Alzheimer’s is what [families and patients] want. You want time with your family and more time being yourself,” said Decena. 

According to Decena, having more time for Alzheimer’s patients allows them to not only improve their quality of life, but also allow patients to have the opportunity to seek treatment though clinical trials. 

Since the companies establishment in 2017, Synapto has won the first prize in the National Institutes of Health’s Design by Biomedical Undergraduate Teams (DEBUT) challenge and has been featured in many news outlets including Forbes magazineBut, with all the highs that comes from the success of the company, Patel mentions that there were many lows.

“As an undergraduate team, especially in med-tech, it was very challenging because this industry is run by old, advanced-degree professionals. Which is great, they’re there for a reason,” Patel said. “But at the same time, it was challenging to even get their time or explain to them our goals and what we wanted to do.”

During those times of doubt, Patel remained motivated by his family and by remembering his grandfather’s battle with Alzheimer’s. According to his younger brother Kavi Patel, a sophomore at Northwest High School, Dhruv was heavily impacted by their grandfather’s health. After his grandfather’s diagnosis, Dhruv took multiple trips to India to visit his grandfather and was able to witness his condition first hand. Patel keeps those images as motivation to continue his journey with Synapto. 

“[Thinking back] reminds you of why you’re here in the first place and reminds you of what the end goal is throughout the entire process,” said Patel.

Patel hopes that Synapto’s success can help shift the rhetoric around undergraduate teams in innovation and help motivate not only current but future classes of students. Dr. Joseph Dien, a senior research scientist affiliated with the Human Development Program at the University of Maryland, is impressed with the work that the group has done so far and thinks they have the potential to inspire. 

“I think it is very exciting that this group of clearly talented students are doing this work,” said Dien, “It is a good reminder that really anybody can contribute to the progress of science and medicine- it is not something that only happens in faraway places.”