Vitamin-AI’s goal is to improve the early diagnostics of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD)
among adults 45+ by affordable and AI-empowered mobile applications using
digital biomarkers.

Digital biomarkers as alternative to physical interventions

There is a growing interest in innovative diagnostic tools for early AD detection which focuses on a wide variety of screening tools, including neuropsychometric measurements.

The recent literature univocally emphasizes the importance of technological and methodological innovation within the context of the rapid growth of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence. For this reason, we employ a strategy which combines state of the art methodological advances (including our own expertise and patented AI innovations) with high-quality data from different sources (voice, eye, psychometric).

Even if the predictive performance of the models is poor or moderate during the initial stages, we are confident that continuous improvements can be achieved as the amount of data keeps growing and our machine learning models are systematically updated.

Eye tracking and Alzheimer detection

Eye tracking has been used in early dementia prediction and has proven valuable in detecting AD. There are also studies that use other aspects of the eye to use as biomarkers such as pupil responses. Even though there are not many studies of early AD detection based on eye measurements, there seems to be sufficient reason to conclude that their use, in combination with other markers, is beneficial. In our experience, the predictive power of statistical models and Artificial Intelligence often depends on the presence of combined features from various origins.

Voice analysis and Alzheimer detection

Voice recordings have been successfully used in early detection of Parkinson’s Disease. Likewise, an early sign of dementia can be spotted in speech irregularities. Large volumes of data allow Machine Learning models to analyse the voice recordings and detect patterns or changes. Different aspects of the voice can show different information, but the general consensus is that speech patterns and irregularities are the most accurate way to predict abnormalities. As with the eye tracking methods, these tests work best when used in conjunction with other methods of Alzheimer’s detection.

Alzheimer Disease

Vitamin AI will be a disruptive technology, which will contribute to the diagnostics of AD and improve the well-being of its patients.

Vitamin AI will have a major socio-economical impact. Economically it will reduce the medical and aged care costs and low income and productivity costs.

According to The Alzheimer Association (US) a person with AD costs yearly three times more than a person without AD. The last 5 years of the life of an AD patient costs 185.000 EUR versus 113.000 EUR for a heart patient and 112.000 EUR for a cancer patient.

Direct costs

Medical and aged care costs – We estimate that, if an early affordable diagnosis is provided, this will impact the quality of life for the patient. There will be no need of expensive medical interventions, medications, spending on caregivers and hospital stays (according to a study, dementia and related diseases cause a reduced life expectancy). The general practitioners will be able to monitor the brain and physical health of their patients remotely, thus have more time to focus on customized therapies and accurate diagnosis, as current diagnosis have a margin of error of 25%.

Indirect costs

Low income and productivity costs – By having better brain and health monitoring combined with an adequate health program, the productivity of the patient will improve, therefore he or she will be able to stay employed longer. On a social security side, there will be more benefit and less expense. Another impact will be the reduction of the burden that is upon relatives, friends and caregivers of AD patients. With our app, they can use the data to stay engaged and supportive in the recovery programs.

AD is one of the top 10 deadliest diseases

Patients in an advanced stage of AD lose their memory, coordination and fall often. It is expected the number of dementia patients to be increasing as the population grows in both size and age – from 75 million to 132 million in 2050. The cost globally is 512 billion EUR, which is equivalent to 1% of the entire world’s gross domestic product.

The healthcare AI market and AD

According to marketandmarkets.com research, AI in healthcare is expected to grow tenfold in the next 5 years or from 564 million EUR in 2016 to 6,7 billion EUR by 2022. Considering the fact that the population grows in both size and age, AI in healthcare is more than welcome as it will save costs and could potentially solve some of the big pains of our healthcare systems.

The estimated costs from AD worldwide were 692 billion EUR and they are estimated to more than double in 2030 to 1,69 trillion EUR. Over the past years there has been a considerable increase in the investments and focus for Alzhemer’s Disease research.

Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning approach

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