Sonde extends use of its voice-based health
detection and monitoring platform beyond respiratory illness to
cognitive and mental health conditions
PureTech Health plc (Nasdaq: PRTC, LSE: PRTC) (“PureTech” or the
“Company”), a clinical-stage biotherapeutics company, today
announced that its Founded Entity, Sonde Health (“Sonde”), has
launched Sonde Mental Fitness, a voice-enabled mental health
detection and monitoring technology that uses a brief voice sample
to evaluate mental well-being. Available as an application
programming interface (API) for health systems, employers, and
wellness service providers, Sonde Mental Fitness is an easy and
affordable way for individuals to engage with and better understand
their mental well-being and can potentially serve as a much-needed
early warning system for depression and other mental health
conditions.
As the strain of the Covid-19 pandemic on mental health
continues, Sonde Mental Fitness aims to create awareness among
those who may be struggling with mental health issues but may not
be receiving treatment. In the U.S., 42% of adults report
experiencing symptoms of anxiety or depression, which represents a
four-fold increase from 2019, yet less than 10% of people with a
mental health condition receive effective treatment. Studies have
shown that health conditions including depression, stress, anxiety,
sleepiness/fatigue, and certain respiratory conditions can impact
vocal features such as smoothness, control, liveliness, energy
range, and clarity. Sonde’s voice processing technology analyzes a
30-second audio recording of a user’s voice, picking up on subtle
changes to these vocal features that could indicate changes to
one’s mental fitness.
Sonde Mental Fitness is currently available through its API
platform for integration into third-party apps. It’s also available
as a standalone app for iOS and, soon Android, mobile devices to
serve as a proof of concept for health systems, employers, and
wellness services interested in testing out the API’s
capabilities.
The full text of the announcement from Sonde is as follows:
Sonde Health Launches Vocal Biomarker
Technology to Monitor Mental Health and Well-Being
Company extends application of vocal biomarkers
into multiple health conditions
BOSTON — October 5, 2021 — Sonde Health has
unveiled Sonde Mental Fitness, a voice-enabled mental health
detection and monitoring technology that uses a brief voice sample
to evaluate mental well-being. Available as an application
programming interface (API) for health systems, employers, and
wellness service providers, Sonde Mental Fitness is an easy and
affordable way for individuals to engage with and better understand
their mental well-being and can serve as a much-needed early
warning system for depression and other mental health
conditions.
Much like a physical fitness tracker, Sonde Mental Fitness
utilizes biomarkers to measure key indicators of health. Studies
have shown that health conditions including depression, stress,
anxiety, sleepiness/fatigue, and certain respiratory conditions can
impact vocal features such as smoothness, control, liveliness,
energy range, clarity. Sonde’s voice processing technology analyzes
a 30-second audio recording of a user’s voice, picking up on subtle
changes to these vocal features that could indicate changes to
one’s mental fitness.
“In the U.S., 42% of adults report experiencing symptoms of
anxiety or depression, yet less than 10% of people with a mental
health condition receive effective treatment,” said David Liu, CEO
at Sonde Health. “As the pandemic’s strain on mental health
continues, Sonde Mental Fitness aims to shrink that gap by creating
awareness. With a greater understanding of their mental well-being,
people can take a more proactive approach to their mental health,
including seeking treatment when necessary. In healthcare, better
patient engagement leads to better outcomes. In the workplace,
better awareness of mental health leads to healthier, happier, and
more productive employees, and could improve engagement with
employer-provided mental health services, which resides at a low
5.5% utilization rate despite being offered at 97% of large
employers.”
Sonde Mental Fitness is powered by audio signal processing
technology and machine learning models trained on more than 1
million voice samples from all over the world and has been
optimized for voices across cultures, dialects, and languages.
The tool prompts users to record a 30-second voice sample by
responding to one of more than two dozen prompts, such as “How was
your day?” It then analyzes the vocal features contained within the
sample and translates results into an overall mental fitness score
ranging from “excellent” to “pay attention.”
Sonde Mental Fitness also delivers useful health tips for users
to strengthen their mental well-being. Additionally, voice samples
are transcribed and stored as daily text journal entries, giving
users a historical and contextual understanding of their emotional
fitness. The combination allows individuals to track their mood and
emotional progress over time, leading to improved
self-awareness.
The use cases for Sonde Mental Fitness span enterprise and
healthcare. For instance, employers can build Sonde Mental Fitness
into their employee wellness offering as a low-risk,
consumer-friendly way for employees to stay in tune with their
mental health and improve the utilization of employee assistance
programs (EAPs).
Mental health providers, meanwhile, can use Sonde Mental Fitness
to support therapy workflows and keep patients engaged in treatment
outside of an office setting.
“Patients can sometimes struggle to identify thoughts and events
that contribute to their symptoms,” said Lindsey Venesky, PhD,
NCSP, from the Cognitive Behavior Institute. “Sonde Mental Fitness
helps our patients make connections by encouraging them to
regularly check in on their current mental state. These insights
then support my work with my patients by helping to identify
patterns in their symptoms that can contribute to their overall
treatment progress.”
“Vocal biomarkers, and Sonde’s technology specifically, have
already been proven effective at detecting symptoms of respiratory
disease, including COVID-19,” added Liu. “With the release of Sonde
Mental Fitness, we’re extending the use of our voice-based health
detection and monitoring platform beyond respiratory illness to
cognitive and mental health conditions, and we’re laying the
groundwork to support additional health conditions.”
Sonde Mental Fitness is currently available through its API
platform for integration into third-party apps. It’s also available
as a standalone app for iOS and, soon Android, mobile devices to
serve as a proof of concept for health systems, employers, and
wellness services interested in testing out the API’s
capabilities.
To learn more about Sonde Mental Fitness, visit
https://www.sondehealth.com/mental-health.
About Sonde Health
Leveraging over 1 million voice samples from 80,000+
individuals, Sonde Health’s proprietary voice-based technology
platform detects symptoms of health conditions – like depression
and respiratory disease – from changes in voice. Using advanced
audio signal processing and machine learning, Sonde senses and
analyzes subtle vocal changes due to changes in a person’s
physiology to provide early health detection and monitoring for
depression and respiratory conditions. www.sondehealth.com
About PureTech Health
PureTech is a clinical-stage biotherapeutics company dedicated
to discovering, developing and commercializing highly
differentiated medicines for devastating diseases, including
inflammatory, fibrotic and immunological conditions, intractable
cancers, lymphatic and gastrointestinal diseases and neurological
and neuropsychological disorders, among others. The Company has
created a broad and deep pipeline through the expertise of its
experienced research and development team and its extensive network
of scientists, clinicians and industry leaders. This pipeline,
which is being advanced both internally and through PureTech's
Founded Entities, is comprised of 25 therapeutics and therapeutic
candidates, including two that have received both U.S. FDA
clearance and European marketing authorization, as of the date of
PureTech's most recently filed Half Year Report and corresponding
Form 6-K. All of the underlying programs and platforms that
resulted in this pipeline of therapeutic candidates were initially
identified or discovered and then advanced by the PureTech team
through key validation points based on the Company's unique
insights into the biology of the brain, immune and gut, or BIG,
systems and the interface between those systems, referred to as the
BIG Axis.
For more information, visit www.puretechhealth.com or connect
with us on Twitter @puretechh.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. All statements contained in this press release that do not
relate to matters of historical fact should be considered
forward-looking statements, including statements that relate to our
expectations regarding Sonde Mental Fitness and its mental health
detection and monitoring technology capabilities, and Sonde’s
future prospects, development plans, and strategies. The
forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and
are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other
important factors that could cause actual results, performance and
achievements to differ materially from current expectations,
including, but not limited to, those risks, uncertainties and other
important factors described under the caption “Risk Factors” in our
Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2020
filed with the SEC and in our other regulatory filings. These
forward-looking statements are based on assumptions regarding the
present and future business strategies of the Company and the
environment in which it will operate in the future. Each
forward-looking statement speaks only as at the date of this press
release. Except as required by law and regulatory requirements, we
disclaim any obligation to update or revise these forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events
or otherwise.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211005005401/en/
Investors Allison Mead Talbot +1 617 651 3156
amt@puretechhealth.com
U.S. Media Nichole Sarkis +1 774 278 8273
nichole@tenbridgecommunications.com
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