A revolutionary AI-led approach to detecting pre-dementia symptoms is to form part of a new NHS clinic dedicated to driving improvements in early-stage dementia diagnosis.
Cognetivity’s technology is to be deployed within a new remote Brain Health Clinic at South London and Maudsley (SLaM) NHS Foundation Trust. Among the first of its kind in the world, the clinic will provide in-depth subtyping of patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), followed by periodic, remote assessment of those who are expected to progress to Alzheimer’s dementia.
The Integrated Cognitive Assessment (ICA) devised by Cognetivity will play a key role in the clinic’s aim of enhancing early diagnosis of patients with Alzheimer’s disease and provide timely access to treatment.
Cognetivity’s iPad-based test also supports the clinic’s focus on remote medical assessment, the importance of which has been reinforced by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Proven through clinical trials and numerous peer-reviewed publications, the ICA developed by Cognetivity has been hailed as a game-changer in dementia diagnosis, used in both primary and secondary care to find pre-dementia symptoms through a simple test in a quicker time and at a lower cost than ever before.
Broadly, its technology works by showing a patient a series of pictures, to which they have to respond as quickly and accurately as possible whether they have seen a pre-specified image category.
AI algorithms then cluster test performance in terms of accuracy, speed and image properties, giving rapid and highly accurate results.
The information can then prove crucial in determining next steps for patients, securing better outcomes, saving significant sums of money in care and examination costs, and offering “queue-busting functionality” in cutting waiting times and removing the need for potentially unnecessary appointments.
Additionally, the ICA’s language independence and freedom from cultural bias is particularly significant in serving the highly diverse population of around 2 million patients to which SLaM provides services.
“This clinic is a really exciting prospect for dementia diagnosis and care,” says senior NHS geriatric psychiatrist Professor Dag Aarsland, who has overseen the clinic’s creation.
“It’s fantastic to have the ICA involved, as a highly innovative tool, fit for a highly innovative project, that brings enormous potential to improve patient outcomes.”
Dr Sina Habibi, Cognetivity CEO, adds: “We’re thrilled to see the ICA deployed as part of this ground-breaking new clinic at one of the UK’s premier mental health trusts.
“Early-stage diagnosis, facilitated by remote cognitive assessment and monitoring – this is the bright future of dementia medicine, without a doubt, and we’re delighted to be a part of it.”
