Grant Funds A.I. Cognitive Change Rehab Study

(Steve Buissinne, Pixabay)

30 April 2018. A start-up company developing an app-based monitor with artificial intelligence for tracking cognitive change in older adults is taking part in a study testing the program with a chain of rehabilitation clinics. MyndYou in Tel Aviv, Israel, is collaborating in the project with Genesis Rehab Services, based in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, funded by a $900,000 award from the Israel-U.S. Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation.

MyndYou, founded in 2015, designs its technology to capture key indicators of cognitive change with a smartphone app that collects data from a person’s voice with regular brief telephone calls, movements, and driving patterns. No other interactions with the phone or app are required. Data from the app are transmitted, compiled, and analyzed with artificial intelligence algorithms, according to the company, that provide personalized are recommendations for therapists and caregivers.

The system also has a web-based component that enables care providers to call clients in their homes. The program is designed, says MyndYou, to provide early warning of subtle changes in a person’s cognition that may otherwise go undetected.

Genesis Rehab Services offers a chain of rehabilitation clinics in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities, but also supports home-based rehab programs. These home services, says the company, provide continuity of care to former rehab patients, as well as improve compliance with required treatment plans. Genesis says it can also incorporate mobile apps and other devices into treatment programs.

The study will assess the MyndYou system for tracking cognitive change among Genesis’s rehab patients that require continued monitoring after their visit to rehab clinics, as well as patients completing their clinical rehab programs and are discharged from further therapy. Follow-up monitoring will be done through weekly telephone calls to rehab counselors linked to the MyndYou system, as well as data collected passively from the mobile apps.

The project is funded by the Israel-U.S. Binational Industrial Research and Development or BIRD Foundation that provides grants to companies in Israel and the U.S. collaborating on joint R&D projects. BIRD will fund up to half of project costs, not exceeding $1 million, but takes no equity stakes in participating companies. The organization funds 20 projects a year in agriculture, communications, construction, electronics, life sciences, software, security, and other technologies.

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