Chicago, IL (September 16, 2019)– CareBand, Inc. announces it has been awarded National Institutes of Health (NIH) Phase I Small Business Innovation Research funding to determine whether the CareBand system can detect agitation in people living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). If the CareBand device can detect early signs of agitation, it may propel innovations in assistive technology to counter behavioral symptoms like agitation, monitor changes in health conditions, enhance clinical decision making, and improve communication with caregivers to provide them with peace of mind.
Agitation is a neuropsychiatric symptom of dementia and can indicate that a person with ADRD has an acute medical condition, is in distress or has unmet needs. Agitated individuals are more likely to be prescribed high-risk psychotropic medications and are at greater risk for injury to themselves and others, which can lead to removal from home or care facilities. Measuring and ultimately predicting agitation can de-escalate stressful situations and is anticipated to decrease costs and caregiver burden.
In the Phase I of the NIH-supported study, CareBand, Inc. which has developed a LoRa-based wearable that provides an individual’s near real-time indoor and outdoor precise location, movement, and activity data, will deploy the technology to residents living in a long-term care setting and collect motion data for a six-week period while facility-based staff will record observation-based, validated agitation scale data daily. The relationship between the motion data and the agitation scale data will then be evaluated and analyzed to expand existing CareBand capabilities to recognize and predict agitation.
The company is collaborating with the Regenstrief Institute, Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM), and clinician-scientists Ellen Kaehr, M.D. (IUSM, Department of Medicine) and Daniel Bateman, M.D. (Regenstrief Institute; IUSM, Department of Psychiatry). Andrea Iaboni, M.D. Ph.D., Shehroz Khan Ph.D., and Reza Faieghi Ph.D. from KITE-Toronto Rehabilitation Institute in Canada will serve as project collaborators. The study will be conducted amongst residents with ADRD who reside at Bethany Village, a skilled nursing facility, managed by American Senior Communities in Indianapolis. To facilitate focus groups, CareBand has chosen to partner with Tech-Enhanced Life.
CareBand hopes to empower the estimated 5.6 million people 65 years and older currently living with ADRD and help caregivers by enhancing their current technology to include monitoring of behavioral symptoms like agitation. As the U.S. population ages, it is expected that the number of individuals living with ADRD will increase rapidly.
