Detecting early signs of Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease is associated with the sticky plaques that build up in the brains of patients, which eventually deteriorates their brain and cognitive abilities. So, the key to detecting if someone has the early signs of Alzheimer's disease is to find out if they have any sticky plaques. A new method uses near-infrared imaging that is significantly cheaper than the leading method, and is less intrusive as well.

Apparently how it works is that they use a chemical dye and with near-infrared imaging, they are able to detect the quanitity of the sticky plaques if there is a stronger signal. Why is this discovery significant? From the Technology Review article, this sums up:

Usually, researchers studying Alzheimer's must dissect animal brains to see the effects of treatments. But monitoring a living brain over time would yield much more useful information and might even help in early diagnosis. Because Hintersteiner's and Higuchi's imaging techniques cost as little as a fiftieth as much as PET, and because the chemicals are easier to work with, live experiments once considered out of reach can now be performed on animals--and, with the MRI technique, potentially even people.

This is a great discovery, because there is lots of pain and suffering for both the Alzheimer's patient and his/her immediate family. Early detection will lead to adequate therapies and medications to address the Alzheimer's patient.