Researchers have developed a smartphone app that can diagnose dementia just as well as clinical staff. This could save a significant amount of time and improve treatment outcomes.
For many people, the smartphone has become indispensable. However, technology can not only help us to communicate, but also to diagnose illnesses at an early stage. This is shown by an app that can detect a major cause of early-onset dementia in people at high risk.
At least that’s what recent study results suggest. The scientists behind the study demonstrated that cognitive tests carried out via a smartphone app are at least as reliable as those carried out in a clinic.
To determine its effectiveness, they examined patients with signs of frontotemporal dementia. This is a neurological disorder that often occurs in middle age and contributes to the shrinking of certain parts of the brain.
Smartphone app diagnoses dementia using voice recording
Those affected are impaired in skills such as planning and prioritizing tasks, filtering distractions and impulse control. Around a third of these cases have a genetic cause. Despite this, there is still a lack of effective systems to diagnose and treat patients at an early stage. This is because certain treatment approaches are only effective in the early stages of the disease.
But smartphones could help with early diagnosis and assessment. To investigate their usefulness in frontotemporal dementia, the researchers collaborated with the US-based software company Datacubed Health. The result is an app that records people’s speech as they engage in various cognitive tests.
App remains inaccessible to the public
The researchers came to the conclusion that the app can detect dementia in those affected just as well and in some cases even more reliably than evaluation in a clinic. In this way, the smartphone could establish itself as a reliable companion in diagnosis.
Nevertheless, there are no immediate plans to make the app available to the public. The team initially sees a possible use in supporting research into this disease. It may also be possible to monitor the effects of treatment in order to provide progress and status updates from home.
