The research was conducted jointly by Korea University, the medical college of the Catholic University of Korea, and the Korean Institute of Materials Science. The scientists created a technology that detects structural changes in proteins that provoke neurological disorders.
The new platform, known as GME—SERS, replaces traditional, more invasive, and expensive diagnostic methods such as blood tests or cerebrospinal fluid analysis. It allows for identifying pathological changes in proteins using saliva.
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At the core of the technology are nanostructures made of gold and copper oxide, which significantly amplify weak molecular signals. This allows the system to accurately identify changes in proteins, which is difficult to achieve using traditional diagnostic methods.
As part of the study conducted with the participation of St. Vincent's Hospital, scientists analyzed the saliva of 44 patients with epilepsy, schizophrenia, and Parkinson's disease, as well as 23 healthy volunteers.
The results showed that the technology allows for classifying neurological disorders with high accuracy—between 90 to 98 percent.
According to the scientists, this diagnostic method could be used not only in medical institutions but also at home with the help of portable devices.
