Dementia is a severe condition, and statistics show that it is among the world’s top 10 conditions that cause death. Saving these lives in the past few years seemed impossible since dementia diagnostics have been challenging. However, new research is shedding light on possible ways to counter the mental and health effects of dementia.
For a standard diagnosis, doctors have to recognize the loss of skills faced by the subject individual. They also determine what the patient is capable of doing at the current time. How is this done? The doctors will review the patient’s medical history and any symptoms, followed by a physical examination.
Typically, the entire process takes longer than you might think; however, Winterlight Labs has invented a way to detect Alzheimer’s disease within the shortest time possible.
About Winterlight Labs
Winterlight Labs is a Canada-based startup founded in 2015. Their core mission is to create a more objective and faster way to measure psychiatric and neurological illness by using speech-based AI.
Pharmaceutical companies use the company\’s fully compliant and automated platform to check dementia, track the symptoms, and measure patient response to therapy remotely.
Their Transformative Speech Analysis
Winterlight Labs developed Ludwig, a superb robot about 2 feet tall that can determine if a person shows any signs and symptoms of dementia within 60 seconds. You are probably wondering how it manages to achieve that within such a period.
Ludwig listens to individual voices and, through the proprietary voice analysis algorithms, can pick up subtle cues that reveal these signs.
Yes! It’s possible to identify these symptoms in less than a minute. The company confirms that this solution operates at an 82–100% accuracy rate, which is relatively ideal. What is more, the platform does not only reveal dementia but also other cognitive conditions such as aphasia.
Within the analysis period, Winterlight Labs can characterize the patient’s acoustic, linguistic, and cognitive state, including syntactic complexity, lexical diversity, articulation, and semantic content.
Spoken models, unlike written samples, offer more practice for achieving the highest score in the long run, considering that writing needs literacy whereas speech does not.
Steps to Identifying Dementia Symptoms
Like any other doctor-patient analysis, some procedures are taken to reveal if you’re really showing symptoms or being free from Alzheimer’s. Some of the standard procedures offered at Cognes include cognitive tests, eye scans, genetic and voice analyses, and MRI scans.
There are three significant procedures that are further discussed below.
1. Identification of familiar subjects
This is the initial stage of this diagnostic. Here, patients are shown different photos of more often familiar subjects and asked to briefly describe what they see within 45 seconds. It is essential to note that these subjects may be related or not.
2. Transcription of words
In the second phase, specialists record their patient’s comments on the subjects and then send them to a cloud-based system that in turn automatically transcribes these words. Through this transcription, Winterlight algorithms evaluate cognition, language, and speech by assessing 400 distinct variables.
3. Performance score
After the evaluation is complete, the voice analysis system brings about a mini-mental examination performance score. This score is used to screen for cognitive function. The results shown determine if there are any signs or not.
People who have dementia find it hard to find words, hesitate, or use fewer nouns and more pronouns. This leads to several pauses between words. Winterlight Labs uses Ludwig, the robot, to provide an affectionate way to interact with their algorithms compared to other utilitarian interfaces like microphones and speakers.
Ludwig is structured with a human-like visage bearing a resemblance to a ventriloquist’s dummy, hence easy to relate to. As a result of this invention, the technology provides quicker and easier diagnosis, leading to effective treatment since the detection is accelerated.
Winterlight designed this technology primarily to be used in primary care practices and clinical trials.
What Makes Winterlight Speech Analysis for Dementia Diagnostics Reliable?
There are various AI dementia diagnostic applications, all trying hard to identify this condition as early as possible and administer medication to ease it. Apart from speech analysis, other major categories include medical image analysis, visual indicators, and genetic analysis.
However, the major question is: what is it about artificial intelligence that makes speech analysis more reliable?
One major thing is that computers help in the collection of extensive data. Algorithms, on the other hand, assist in analyzing the data in the best quantitative manner possible.
Winterlight’s ability to incorporate both of these into a modern machine allows them to quickly and effectively achieve data patterns that humans were unable to find before. The process also helps to diagnose several individuals in a day, hence treating as many of those suffering from this condition.
The tests are accurate, with a rating of not less than 82%. Considering that speech analysis can detect dementia even in the early stages, it helps individuals get medication as early as possible. The earlier the drugs are administered, the greater the impact on improving the health and life of the patient.
Dementia Diagnostic Test by Cognes
Early identification of dementia disease comes with lots of advantages.
Almost all major AI identifications are expensive, and average individuals can’t afford to pay for the diagnosis. The core purpose of this project is to help individuals be sustainable, identify Alzheimer’s in its early stages, and save on costs.
Various benefits that come with Cognes testing include:
- Early diagnosis
The tests estimate the presence of biomarkers that can detect symptoms early. Early diagnosis provides better chances of treatment.
- Cost-effective
Most dementia tests are expensive, and very few people can afford them. Cognes helps you get the diagnosis at a fair price.
- Scalable
The system is quite diverse. Many people get tested, hence getting them into treatment when there is still time.
- Better treatment
This goes hand in hand with an early diagnosis. Cognes helps you receive better and more reliable treatment.
Summary
The development of speech analysis by Winterlight Labs is a great innovation that helps specialists quickly analyze their patients’ speech patterns to monitor and detect the progression of dementia.
With its high accuracy rating, there is hope that dementia diagnosis becomes easier, quicker, and more scalable for many individuals a day.