Better results from better imaging

Any clinical trials involving white matter will benefit from our capabilities.

WHAT WE MEASURE

At Imeka, we use non-invasive, advanced white matter MRI to image white matter and:

Measure three key markers of neuropathology: neuroinflammation, axonal degeneration, and demyelination;

Measure therapeutic effects, such as remyelination and
tissue repair;

Provide virtual dissection of 50+ different fiber bundles—robust to crossing fibers.

The ultimate goal of white matter imaging is to find non-invasive and indirect markers that are sensitive to pathology and are able to quantify damage and/or therapeutic changes. Imeka’s ANIE (Advanced Neuro Imaging Endpoints) biomarker platform achieves that goal.

How we measure neuroinflammation,
axonal degeneration, and demyelination

Our proprietary analytic algorithm and well-trained artificial intelligence work together to identify and quantify white matter pathology and integrity.

Neuroinflammation

Imeka’s ANIE biomarker platform identifies and quantifies neuroinflammation on the voxel level by measuring the free water fraction with a high degree of sensitivity and specificity.

By definition, inflammation is an immune response that occurs when water permeates the extracellular space. In dMRI, therefore, neuroinflammation appears as increased free water volume in the white matter.

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Myelin integrity

Imeka’s ANIE biomarker platform identifies the location, extent, and degree of demyelination and remyelination. The algorithm can even identify pathology in normal-appearing white matter.

A densely myelinated area restricts water movement; in an area with less myelin, the water is more free to move. Specifically, the water is able to move perpendicularly to the fibers themselves within the extracellular space. We can identify and measure myelin integrity using tissue Radial Diffusivity (tRD) from dMRI, as well as measuring myelin-specific MRI markers derived from magnetization transfer imaging (MTR), inhomogeneous magnetization transfer (ihMT), or myelin water fraction (MWF).

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Axonal integrity and white matter health

Imeka’s ANIE biomarker platform identifies the tissue fraction of a fiber element (called the fixel) and measures apparent fiber density robust to crossing fibers. In doing so, we characterize the integrity of white matter tissue and measure axonal death along specific white matter bundles—whether or not white matter lesions are present.

White matter health and axonal integrity are aspects of fiber integrity, which must be measured differently from free water movement. Imeka’s ANIE biomarker platform measures these parameters with a high degree of precision.

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We are robust
to crossing fibers

We go beyond diffusion tensor imaging tracking, which assumes single-directional tracts, Imeka’s ANIE biomarker platform is robust to crossing fibers.

Imeka is currently the reference company offering white matter microstructure assessment in specific fiber bundles.

Imeka’s unique ANIE biomarker platform automatically and robustly extracts 50+ of the main white matter fiber bundles for unparalleled virtual dissection capabilities. We analyze the white matter microstructure along each fiber bundle of interest—all completely non-invasively.

In most central nervous system disease areas, analyses can be improved by using more statistics (voxel-based, bundle-based, track-profile-based, connectome-based) on specific white matter fiber bundles. Manual virtual dissection, atlas-based segmentation, and other approaches are possible, but they are cumbersome, slow, and prone to human error.

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Imeka’s biomarker and diagnostic potential

Imeka can give you precise micro- and macrostructure information about the white matter before clinical signs.

What if you could locate and measure the effect of a therapy before even seeing a clinical difference? What if you could quantify a clinical effect in a specific area of the brain, instead of having your data diluted by whole-brain measurements?

Imagine a future where a person can lie down in an MRI machine and find out if they’re slowly developing Parkinson’s disease. Or a patient can discover that their Alzheimer’s disease subtype is almost certain to respond to a specific therapy. We can identify such things for other diseases, like diabetes or gene-identified cancer. Let’s make this true in neurology, too.

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DISEASE AREAS

We can identify and quantify neuroinflammation, axonal degeneration, and myelin indexes throughout the white matter and down to the fiber level.

These capabilities mean that Imeka’s ANIE (Advanced Neuro Imaging Endpoints) biomarker platform has applications across the spectrum of central nervous system diseases, and we are always looking for exciting new things to discover.

Our biomarkers are most advanced in the following disease areas:

Alzheimer’s disease (AD)

There is a desperate need for better diagnostic tools and treatment options for AD. We believe our capabilities and biomarkers can make a real difference in the diagnosis and treatment of AD.

Here’s what we can see in AD:

Connections to and from the following regions:

Medial temporal bundles
Corpus callosum
Posterior cingulum

Metrics:

Neuroinflammation
Axonal degeneration
Myelin index

Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

White matter lesions traditionally define MS—but what is happening in the normal-appearing white matter? Our imaging and tracing abilities shed light on the mysteries of MS to help improve how we treat it.

Here’s what we can see in MS:

Pathologies that are:

Lesion-load dependent and patient specific
In the normal-appearing white matter

Metrics:

Myelin index
Neuroinflammation
Axonal degeneration

Parkinson’s disease (PD)

The understanding and treatment of PD are both severely lacking. Better and earlier brain imaging can help us understand and learn to treat PD.

Here’s what we can see in PD:

Connections to and from the following regions:

Substantia nigra
Motor cortex
Thalamus
Brainstem

Metrics:

Neuroinflammation
Axonal degeneration
Myelin index

Have a product in the pipeline?
We know how to work with you!

Imeka has first-hand understanding of the pharma ecosystem and its intricacies. Thanks to our ongoing and past projects with biopharma companies, we know what questions to ask and how to get things done in your framework.

HOW IT WORKS

How Imeka’s ANIE biomarker-generating platform works

Fundamentally, the ANIE biomarker platform is a proprietary software algorithm that incorporates artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze and extract information from advanced white matter imaging data.

The software was developed through a collaboration between two experts in their field: Maxime Descoteaux, who is a white matter imaging specialist, and Pierre-Marc Jodoin, who is a deep learning specialist.
The AI component of Imeka’s ANIE biomarker platform was trained on a combination of atlases, open-source MRI databases, and proprietary databases.

The software and AI training approach are unique to and owned by Imeka—with several patents pending.

Thanks to its unique processing abilities, Imeka’s ANIE biomarker platform can efficiently and accurately:

Identify key differences between two groups (for example, a control group vs. a treatment group, or a patient group vs. healthy controls);
Identify longitudinal changes on a per-patient basis; and
Function as a biomarker-generating platform.

Our software is best in class at identifying white matter pathology and detecting changes.
Let’s see what we can do together.

Let’s collaborate!

Like you, our main goal is to play an influential role—and minimize risk—in the search for and development of cures for brain diseases. Let’s see what we can do together.

Contact us

Better results from better imaging

WHAT WE MEASURE

How we measure neuroinflammation, axonal degeneration, and demyelination

Neuroinflammation

Myelin integrity

Axonal integrity and white matter health

We are robust to crossing fibers

Imeka is currently the reference company offering white matter microstructure assessment in specific fiber bundles.

Imeka’s biomarker and diagnostic potential

DISEASE AREAS

Our biomarkers are most advanced in the following disease areas:

Alzheimer’s disease (AD)

Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

Parkinson’s disease (PD)

Have a product in the pipeline? We know how to work with you!

HOW IT WORKS

How Imeka’s ANIE biomarker-generating platform works

The software and AI training approach are unique to and owned by Imeka—with several patents pending.

Let’s collaborate!

How we measure neuroinflammation,
axonal degeneration, and demyelination

We are robust
to crossing fibers

Have a product in the pipeline?
We know how to work with you!