October 18, 2018
Finding an effective way to treat mental health problems at
scale is one of the biggest challenges facing policy makers, clinicians and
everyday people like you and me.
However, one San Francisco startup, founded by three
doctors, believes it has found the way to diagnose a range of mental problems
quickly, easily and proactively.
By creating an app that measures the way you use your
phone, Mindstrong believes it has found the key
to unlocking the mental health puzzle.
How Does Mindstrong’s Health App
Work?
Mindstrong’s app, called Health, runs in the background on
your phone and tracks how you touch the phone while using it. This, Mindstrong
says, is enough to identify any mental health problems you might be
experiencing.
To be clear, it doesn’t track what you do on your phone,
just how you do it.
For example, the app would be able
to track the way that you type, but wouldn’t be able to see what you type. This
means that it can detect patterns in the way you use your phone – do you swap
back-and-forth between apps, do you make lots of errors while typing and have
to correct them?
Credit:
Mindstrong
Certain patterns of phone usage can be highly indicative of
brain disorders, according to Mindstrong. This means that, by using Health,
users can be made aware of any issues they might have faster, and more
proactively. This can help them to seek advice or treatment faster, and might
improve recovery speeds.
Pattern recognition has long been used as tools in
understanding whether people are experience cognitive disorder, as humans are
inherently predisposed to identify patterns.
Practicalities
That’s the science behind Health. But what’s it like in
practice?
For a start, the app is only available in the US. This is
because Mindstrong wants to serve as a bridge between patient and provider. In
this case, that begins with the user’s insurance company, and ends with the
doctors and psychiatrists at treatment.
As such, you’re required to enter a code given to you by
your insurance company on opening the app for the first time. This means it’s
great for some Americans, but sadly, can’t help those without insurance, who
potentially can be even more at risk.
What Happens to Your Health Data?
Once you begin using the health app, the app records your
screen interactions and sends them to one of Mindstrong’s servers. All your
data is encrypted, so you needn’t worry about anyone getting access to your
records.
Once at the server, the data collected by the app is
analyzed by machine learning algorithms looking at five ‘biomarkers’ to
understand your brain’s health. These biomarkers are:
- The executive
function – What you use to plan, organize, and manage your life. It allows
you to filter out distractions, keep track of deadlines, break down big
projects into smaller steps, and set and achieve goals.
- Cognitive
control – The ability to stay on task, delay gratification, and make
choices in line with your goals, rather than impulses or habits.
- Working memory –
What your brain uses to temporarily store and use information to make
decisions or think through a problem. Think of it like a sticky note where
you store bits of information you plan to use soon.
- Processing speed
– How fast your brain takes to begin or complete a task. Think of it as
your reaction time to new information.
- Emotional valence – How you
respond emotionally to situations, events or people. Think of it as your
mood, energy, and outlook on life. A person with high emotional valence
takes on new challenges, is eager to engage with the world, and takes
active care of themselves. Someone with low emotional valence is more
likely to interact with the world in a guarded way.
The correlation between
Mindstrong’s Digital Biomarkers and neurocognitive test scores. Credit:
Mindstrong
The results of the analysis are then shared with the user
and their insurance company.
Is Anyone Else Doing Something
Similar?
There are loads of different apps designed to aid in the
treatment of mental health issues – everything from meditation and mindfulness
apps, such as Headspace, to mental health companions such
as Moodpath.
However, there’s no app using technology to diagnose mental
health conditions in the same way that Mindstrong’s Health is. There are some
that will provide you with stuff to take to healthcare professionals, but
nothing that can diagnose you in the same way as Health.
It’s a truly unique piece of technology, and, perhaps if
loosened from the shackles of the American health insurance market, one that
could genuinely change people’s lives.
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