BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sonde Health is expanding its leading health monitoring platform beyond mental and respiratory fitness by introducing an innovative cognitive fitness tracker that allows users to monitor brain exertion, or cognitive effort, in real time. This new solution, called Sonde Cognitive Fitness, analyzes eight vocal characteristics from 30-second voice interactions and generates a score to provide insight into one’s cognitive state, helping people manage their mental well-being and productivity effectively.
By tracking their cognitive fitness, individuals can identify and monitor cognitive effort levels, take steps to optimize their productivity and performance, and enhance their well-being by reducing cognitive strain.
Sonde Cognitive Fitness launches as almost one in five people over age 50 worldwide is affected by mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and more than 55 million people worldwide are living with dementia — a figure that's projected to nearly triple by 2050. In early July, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a second drug designed to slow the initial stages of Alzheimer's, spotlighting the importance of early intervention in delaying cognitive decline.
"This convenient and non-invasive cognitive fitness tracking solution is the natural progression for Sonde, as we are now the only company to analyze and monitor vocal biomarkers for three of the body’s crucial functions – cognitive, mental, and respiratory," said David Liu, CEO of Sonde. "Sonde Cognitive Fitness isn't a diagnostic tool; rather, it assesses, through your speech, your current cognitive effort to provide early clues about your well-being – for instance, if you have consistently lower Cognitive Fitness scores when performing simple tasks."
Users can passively monitor their cognitive state with a 30-second voice sample collected through most smart devices. Sonde Cognitive Fitness then measures users' vocal biomarkers and generates a simple score that reflects their current cognitive effort. Scores ranging from 80 to 100 are labeled "Efficient" (low cognitive effort), 70 to 79 are considered "Balanced" (moderate cognitive effort), and 0 to 69 are categorized as "Demanding" (high cognitive effort).
Sonde Cognitive Fitness is designed for easy integration via its application programming interface (API) and software development kit (SDK). A strong verification process ensures only enrolled and consented users' voice samples are collected, and no audio is stored or transmitted off the device to protect privacy.
To develop this tool, Sonde partnered with GN Group and experts in clinical cognitive impairment at leading academic medical centers, including Massachusetts General Hospital and the Montefiore Medical Center at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, to conduct multiple research studies. The combined studies included nearly 700 older adult research participants whose cognitive capabilities were characterized using Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination (ACE), the Blessed Dementia Scale, and the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scale. Sonde Cognitive Fitness scores aligned with those traditional assessments.
To learn more about how Sonde's vocal biomarker platform leverages voice-enabled apps and devices to assess and improve mental, cognitive, and respiratory health outcomes, visit https://www.sondehealth.com/.
About Sonde Health
Sonde Health is the global leader in voice-based health tracking and data insights. Sonde's vocal biomarker API/SDK serves enterprise apps and devices spanning consumer wellness to population health. Leveraging a best-in-class voice data set and clinical research with over 1.2 million samples from 85,000+ individuals on four continents, Sonde uses advanced audio signal processing, speech science, and AI/machine learning to sense and analyze subtle vocal changes due to changes in a person's physiology to provide key insights into health and well-being. www.sondehealth.com
