Neurodegeneration
In testing drugs for efficacy in the CNS areas of neurodegeneration and cognition, Ekam uses non-invasive MRI, SPECT and CT imaging to follow disease progression from pre-symptomatic to symptomatic stages. This allows Ekam clients to:

• Assess redox stress with MR Spectroscopy
• Follow lesions with DTI
• Follow neuro-inflammation via microglia activation
• Implement different models for a range of intervention strategies

Brain Atlases
Ekam has developed proprietary 3D segmented animal brain atlases segmenting the brain into ~150 distinct areas. The atlas is used for registration, segmentation and in-depth data analysis and visualization.

Image Analysis and Interpretation
Ekam’s data analysis package provides fast and accurate analysis of each subject. We use proprietary registration and atlas-based segmentation algorithms to delineate brain regions accurately. The analysis is provided in simple spreadsheet format and can be visualized via secure web portal.

Our analysis can also can go beyond drug efficacy, and provide insights into other CNS effects that new compounds might have. For example, studies have demonstrated inhibition of aggressive motivation in the context of sexual motivation. In one case, we were able to show is that—unlike fluoxetine—a novel compound was able to block aggressive motivation while leaving sexual motivation undisturbed. [Ref-PMID 19014547]