The development of vocal biomarkers to detect things like depression and stress has been an area of interest for some time. When Sharecare acquired Feingold Technologies, they collaborated on a voice analysis app analyzing spectral data in the tone of the user’s voice when they speak on the phone to pick up signs stress and depression, among other things. Cogito also developed a voice analysis tech adopted by health insurers like Humana, Aetna, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, and Partners Healthcare.
Sonde Health licensed a voice-based technology platform for monitoring and diagnosing mental and physical medical conditions from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory. Thomas Quatieri at MIT led a team that developed the technology. The goal is to enable analysis of brief voice samples to screen and monitor conditions through subtle changes in acoustic characteristics of the speaker’s voice.
It identifies vocal biomarkers which could be dynamic changes in pitch and harmonics, articulation timing and hoarseness or breathiness that indicate and requires no analysis of words.
Sonde’s focus areas include mental health conditions like depression as well as a number of other mental health, respiratory and cardiovascular conditions. Pilot studies have shown its vocal biomarker detection can be applied to mild traumatic brain injury, concussion, cognitive impairment and Parkinson’s disease.
The advisers for Sonde Health span hospitals, universities, institutes and retail with the Chief Medical Officer for Walgreens Dr. Harry Leider.
“The ability to help recognize early signs of psychiatric illness and monitor treatment responses on devices that people already own is an important step in moving from reactive to preventive care,” said Aimee Danielson in a statement. She’s the director of the Women’s Mental Health program at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital and an adviser to the business. “This would be particularly useful in conditions that are chronically underdiagnosed, like perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, including postpartum depression, and in other mental health and central nervous system disorders where there is a lack of objective and reliable screening and monitoring technologies.”
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