Photo Source: brainphone.ru
For diagnostics, the patient reads a short text aloud for 10 seconds. The neural network converts the voice recording into a mel-spectrogram – a special visual representation of sound that reflects how the human ear perceives different frequencies. Artificial intelligence analyzes the parameters of each sound, identifying changes characteristic of neurodegenerative diseases.
Parkinson's disease and dementia cause characteristic speech impairments: monotony, changes in volume, timbre, and specific sound pronunciation pathologies. In Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia, speech impairments are observed in 100% of patients and increase over time.
The technology is currently undergoing clinical validation, but has already not only won various competitions but also attracted government investment from special funds.
The system is not intended to replace doctors but should become the first stage in identifying at-risk patients. According to the founders, research on voice changes in neurodegenerative diseases has been conducted worldwide for over 10 years, but recognized and widely used screening methods do not yet exist.
According to experts, voice screening costs 10–15 times less than traditional diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases, which requires the participation of scarce specialists – neurologists and psychiatrists – and expensive examinations such as 3 Tesla brain MRI scans.
According to the World Health Organization, over 8.5 million people worldwide live with Parkinson's disease, and 57 million people suffered from dementia in 2021. About 10 million new cases of dementia are registered annually.
Previously, Marus Media reported that US researchers discovered a link between obstructive sleep apnea and the development of Parkinson's disease. Scientists linked this to brain oxygen deprivation that accumulates year after year.
Russia has several major medical centers that study and treat human brain diseases. Among them are the Federal Center for Brain and Neurotechnologies of FMBA in Moscow, the Bekhterev National Medical Research Center for Psychiatry and Neurology, and the N.P. Bekhtereva Institute of the Human Brain of the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg.
Source: CNews
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