A retinal scan technique, developed by researchers in the University’s Center for Drug Design (CDD), has the potential to detect AD in its early stages, when treatment may still be possible, and also to allow doctors to trace the progress of treatments and help the 100,000 Minnesotans with AD and their families. The researchers developed a camera to scan retinas and detect small, soluble aggregates of a protein called A-beta. As AD progresses, the aggregates grow and are eventually deposited in the brain as insoluble clumps called plaques. Learn more about seeing Alzheimer's disease