Development of Memesto, a wearable repetitive message and music therapy device that senses and reduces agitation in persons with AD/ADRD.

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PROJECT SUMMARY Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (AD/ADRD) are age-associated neuro-degenerative diseases characterized by memory loss, disorientation, and reduced decision-making capacity and self-care. 70% of the 7.2+ million Americans with AD/ADRD experience problematic agitation that includes aggression, combativeness, shouting, exit-seeking and disinhibition. An urgent need exists for interventions that improve health outcomes for these individuals. Utilizing findings that familiar-voice-based brain pathways and reminiscent music are preserved until very late stage ADRD, Edgewater Safety Systems developed a smart wearable media player (Memesto) that family and other caregivers could use with a web app to record, schedule and deliver voice and music to an ADRD patient through this device. Caregivers were able to record greetings, reminders to take medication, drink water or eat lunch, and these messages could be played for the patient via the device at set dates and times. In a follow-up survey with caregivers who used the Memesto with patients at care facilities, 11 of 11 rated it 4.5 out of 5 for “usefulness in mitigating agitation.” Edgewater proposes to develop a more innovative wearable device that senses rising agitation in the patient and automatically plays therapeutic messages and music shown to have had the greatest success reducing or eliminating agitation in the wearer’s previous episodes. With this next generation Memesto, Edgewater aims to improve quality of life for a diverse population of ADRD persons; diminish the use of potentially harmful drugs as an intervention; and help reduce stress and burnout in caregivers. The new Memesto will have four key elements of innovation: 1) repetitive, programmable voice and music therapy in a wearable device, a first for AD/ADRD care; 2) web-based app that enables family and friends to deliver personal messages and music anytime; 3) agitation-sensing system that reads biometric data from non-invasive body-worn sensors to automatically deploy media therapy; and 4) sensor data taken at start and end of the played media to determine effectiveness of that media in reducing agitation and continually prioritize the most effective media. In the Phase I study, Edgewater will partner with Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center to: 1) carry out a 10-week clinical trial on 20 ADRD persons to gather quantitative evidence of the original audio player’s effectiveness at reducing agitation; and 2) demonstrate feasibility of ADRD agitation detection and automated intervention. Phase II will focus on complete implementation of a fully automated, miniaturized, wearable Memesto device and a broad field trial testing efficacy of the new agitation sensing and automated intervention system. The Alzheimer's Disease Diagnostics and Therapeutics market reached $7.5 billion in 2018, with a projection of $11.1 billion by 2024. There is a pool of 5 million U.S. ADRD sufferers who experience agitation who would benefit from the proposed agitation management system.