A research-based startup is looking to assisted living providers as it works to commercialize its artificial intelligence-powered platform to improve the dementia screening process.
DementiAnalytics, a Penn State firm, is hoping to revolutionize early detection and management of cognitive impairments by working with assisted living providers to administer AI-based screenings.
The platform uses advanced machine learning models and language processing techniques for a non-invasive solution for the early detection and monitoring of dementia. By analyzing speech transcripts — residents speak into a speech analysis application incorporated into a smart device — the technology can identify subtle linguistic patterns and cognitive impairments that indicate dementia. A virtual reality headset can be used to collect eye-tracking data for more comprehensive insights.
The technology enables early intervention and personalized care, according to the company.
“The current diagnostic methods involve paper-based questionnaires designed in the 1970s and 1990s, which are often subjective and biased,” DementiAnalytics founder Kevin Mekulu, a doctoral candidate in industrial engineering at Penn State and a Center for Health Organization Transformation, or CHOT, Scholar, said in a statement. “Additionally, many assisted living facilities are understaffed. Our technology would save those staff members time.”
DementiAnalytics began as an industry project sponsored by Highmark through the NSF CHOT, an industry-university cooperative research center. Mekulu participated in the Invent Penn Sate regional NSF I-Corps short course program and the NSF I-Corps National Teams program to begin commercializing DementiAnalytics technology.
Mekulu said that the short course program helps researchers learn about entrepreneurship. Through the National Teams program, he and his team received grant funding to complete 100 customer interviews. He also received an award from the Penn State College of Medicine to participate in its Innovation Fellows Program, a program that commercializes healthcare technology. Mekulu plans to apply for additional funding and collaborate with the university’s Center for Healthy Aging and CHOT to advance the technology.
