According to the WHO some 50 million people globally suffer from dementia (including Alzheimer’s disease) with undiagnosed cases likely doubling these estimates. The numbers are projected to more than triple as access to quality healthcare along with lifespans continue to increase. And while there is no definitive cure for dementia there are lifestyle changes that can slow progression of the disease.
Now a company based in Warsaw called Vivid Mind (www.vividmind.health) has come up with a simple short voice test that leverages artificial intelligence and leading-edge sound processing for early detection of dementia. The screening test is very sensitive and has been proven via clinical tests to have a high degree of accuracy.
One of the earliest life changes observed in the initial stages of dementia involves voice. Dementia can affect the brain’s ability to process and produce speech. In dementia, the control over muscles involved in speech production can be impaired, affecting among other things how vowels are articulated.
Vivid Mind’s unique, patented approach to audio decomposition, separation and analysis uses sound vectoring methods and algorithms called sound objects. It is based on a sinusoidal model that offers a radically new approach to computational analysis of the auditory scene.
The Vivid Mind screening method using voice as a biomarker allows one to first represent the sound spectrum in a more accurate way than existing standard methods and then build interpretable features containing relevant information about a subject’s control over their voice. Significantly, the approach focuses on a sustained utterance of a single vowel and is not language or culture dependent and thus has global utility. The test itself can even be administered remotely without the help of a specialist.
Vivid Mind’s CEO is a native Pole, Dariusz Wiatr, who was educated at Wharton and spent a decade working for global consulting groups in the U.S., including Accenture, and then returned to his homeland as managing partner for McKinsey & Co. He notes: “We are confident in the efficacy of Vivid Mind and its potential impact on the global discussion on dementia.”
Vivid Mind’s testing and patient experience suggest their platform can detect dementia as far as eight years out, a rough estimate that they admit needs more validation. It’s critically important information as a 2017 study by the Lancet Commission on Dementia Prevention showed that up to half of all dementia cases can be delayed if addressed in a timely manner.
Vivid Mind plans an initial exploratory tour in the U.S. in the immediate future to meet with potential partners, payors, investors and select press. The Company has also produced a short video that provides a brief overview:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HHmXMrxLHNkdG46wtBRF7KNxlW9oDbcx/view
Vivid Mind
Vivid Mind’s mission is to provide highly accurate early detection of one of mankind’s most vexing and fastest growing health challenges, dementia. The patented approach is non-invasive, language agnostic, fast, low-cost, and can be deployed remotely throughout the world. With an under ten second voice test it can detect specific single vowel speech anomalies that indicate the onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. The Vivid Mind Test can significantly increase the number of quality years for potentially millions of people around the globe. For more information visit Vividmind.health.
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