Advocate Aurora Research Institute joins aiberry’s AI study to analyze audiovisual signs to detect mental illness
aiberry’s AI platform analyzes a patient’s words, voice and facial expressions to detect mental health conditions and integrates with telehealth services
BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES, August 31, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ — Advocate Aurora Research Institute is one of just three sites to initially join a clinical trial studying an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered telehealth platform designed to analyze a patient’s words, voice and facial expressions to detect signs of mental health conditions, such as depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts.
Declining mental health is a deepening crisis in the U.S. Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, one in five adult Americans reported mental illness. Episodes of anxiety and depression have increased up to four-fold during the pandemic, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“The mental health crisis is particularly acute here in Wisconsin, with a well-documented shortage of practicing psychiatrists and mental health services,” said Mindy Waite, PhD, Research Scientist with Advocate Aurora Research Institute’s Ed Howe Center for Health Care Transformation and Aurora Behavioral Health Services and principal investigator for the study. “And in Milwaukee the crisis disproportionately affects Black and Brown communities.”
Black residents in Milwaukee County account for 47.5% of users of mental health services, despite making up just 27.2% of the population, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services and the U.S. Census Bureau.
“Scientists are researching whether new technologies can help screen for depression symptoms that may then lead to more accessible and timely mental health services,” said Michelle Simpson, PhD, RN, Director of the Howe Center.
The patent-pending technology that’s being evaluated in the study was developed by AI company aiberry, the study sponsor. The AI system takes a video of a patient during their interview with a mental health professional and analyzes multiple data channels – video, audio and speech content – both separately and in combination, to extract patterns specific to a particular mental health disorder. The system then assigns a score showing the likelihood the patient has a particular mental disorder.
“The aiberry platform is the result of more than a decade of research by our Chief Scientist Dr. Newton Howard, one of today’s foremost experts in computational and cognitive neurosciences, and his collaborators,” said Sangit Rawlley, aiberry’s President and Cofounder.
The clinical trial aims to train and validate the aiberry platform’s ability to detect depression in a diverse patient population. People who participate in the study will complete depression screenings and record a video interview. Researchers plan to enroll 1,000 participants ages 13 to 79 in the study.
“We are thrilled to have Advocate Aurora Health and Advocate Aurora Research Institute as one of our strategic partners in this multisite study,” Rawlley said. “Advocate Aurora’s focus on increasing effectiveness and access to mental health solutions by integrating mental health in a primary care setting is well aligned with aiberry’s vision.”
Researchers also aim to study the technology’s capability of assisting with the diagnosis of other mental health conditions.
About Aurora Health Care
Advocate Aurora Health is one of the 12 largest not-for-profit, integrated health systems in the United States and a leading employer in the Midwest with 75,000 employees, including more than 22,000 nurses and the region’s largest employed medical staff and home health organization. A national leader in clinical innovation, health outcomes, consumer experience and value-based care, the system serves nearly 3 million patients annually in Illinois and Wisconsin across more than 500 sites of care. Advocate Aurora is engaged in hundreds of clinical trials and research studies and is nationally recognized for its expertise in cardiology, neurosciences, oncology and pediatrics. The organization contributed $2.2 billion in charitable care and services to its communities in 2019. We help people live well.
About Advocate Aurora Research Institute
Advocate Aurora Research Institute is a not-for-profit, limited liability company of Advocate Aurora Health. Advocate Aurora has emerged as a national destination for patient-centered bench, translational and clinical research, and the Research Institute unifies the innovative research efforts throughout the health system. Advocate Aurora researchers focus on rapidly translating new discoveries from the scientist’s bench to the patient’s bedside and into the community we serve to improve options and outcomes that change not only the lives of individuals, but transform the health of populations.
About aiberry
aiberry’s vision is harness the power of deep tech and artificial intelligence to promote mental wellbeing. aiberry’s patent-pending multimodal AI platform analyzes conversations to screen for mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. aiberry’s platform offers providers and care managers rapid, objective, and evidence-based mental health assessments virtually (in telehealth scenarios) and at the point of care, offering unique outreach and scale opportunities. For more information visit www.aiberry.io.
Sangit Rawlley
Aiberry Inc
contact-us@aiberry.io
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