A nanotechnology nasal spray is being developed that could transform the early detection and treatment of Alzheimer's.

The device shoots tiny magnetic particles into the nose which enter the bloodstream and are carried to the brain.

Each particle is fused to an antibody that targets and binds to rogue molecules believed to play an early role in the disease.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can detect both the particles and the molecules.

To date scientists have only tested the technique in the laboratory on human brain tissue cultures.

But if it can be shown to work in human patients it could lead to a major leap forward in managing Alzheimer's.

Scientists believe the changes that lead to Alzheimer's begin decades before the first symptoms appear.

By the time a patient is diagnosed the disease is already far advanced, and experts suspect that is the main reason why a number of promising drugs have failed in patient trials. Identifying the disease much earlier could make it far easier to treat.

Details of the new research were presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in New Orleans, US.

Lead scientist William Klein, from Northwestern University, Chicago, said: "We have created a probe that targets a unique marker of Alzheimer's disease. This technology is a promising tool for early AD diagnosis and for evaluating the efficacy of investigational new drugs at early stages of the disease."

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Alzheimer's tech spray being developed