PFI-TT: Interactive Block Games for Routine Cognitive Assessment of Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease

该创新-技术转化伙伴关系（PFI-TT）项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力解决了轻度认知障碍（MCI）和阿尔茨海默病（AD）常规认知评估的低成本长期解决方案的迫切社会需求。MCI阶段的早期检测是延迟这种退行性疾病发作和症状缓慢恶化的关键。该项目将重新发明一种新的、自动化的、基于游戏的技术，可用于对老年人进行常规认知评估，这些老年人有患AD的高风险。这种技术支持的方法将显著降低与认知评估相关的成本，并能够客观准确地测量一个人的认知状态，这将导致早期检测与MCI和AD相关的认知下降。该项目还为参与研究和研讨会活动的不同学生带来了独特而宝贵的学习和培训机会。 建议的应用研究将与研究生的培训和指导紧密结合，以成为未来技术创新和创业的领导者。建议的项目将开发一个新的技术平台，用于自动化，基于游戏的老年人常规认知评估，并展示其商业潜力。这个创新的系统采用了一套高度仪器化的立方体与电脑游戏接口。这些立方体具有可编程的视觉、听觉和触觉反馈机制，以及嵌入式运动传感器，可通过交互式游戏对用户的表现和行为进行评估。这些游戏将被设计成捕捉工作记忆、空间推理、反应时间和为目标人群量身定制的手眼协调技能。游戏复杂性的综合计算措施将使系统能够根据用户的表现自动调整游戏难度。该系统不仅将自动化管理和数据收集过程，还将产生新类型的行为数据，例如手部震颤，重复或过度活跃的运动以及操作速度。拟议的技术开发和评价将采取共同设计的办法，以便有效地满足用户的具体要求，并为潜在的商业化进行技术改进。与当地持续护理退休社区（CCRC）的合作将通过利用合作CCRC中建立的生活实验室来简化和加速复杂的共同设计过程。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project addresses the urgent social need of a low-cost, long-term solution for routine cognitive assessment of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Early detection at the MCI stage is a key to delaying onset of this degenerative disease and slow worsening of the symptoms. This project will re-invent a novel, automated, game-based technology that can be used for routine cognitive assessment of older individuals who are at a high risk of developing AD. This technology-enabled method will significantly lower the cost associated with cognitive assessment and enable objective and accurate measurements of one's cognitive status, which will lead to early detection of cognitive declines associated with MCI and AD. This project also brings unique and valuable learning and training opportunities for the diverse students participating in the research and workshop activities. The proposed applied research will be tightly integrated with the training and mentoring of graduate students to become future leaders in technology innovation and entrepreneurship.The proposed project will develop a novel technology platform for automated, play-based routine cognitive assessment in older adults and demonstrate its commercial potential. This innovative system employs a set of highly instrumented cubes interfacing with computerized games. The cubes feature programmable visual, auditory, and tactile sensory feedback mechanisms and embedded motion sensors for user performance and behavior assessment via interactive play. The games will be designed to capture working memory, spatial reasoning, response time, and hand-eye coordination skills tailored for the target population. The integrated computational measures of play complexity will enable the system to automatic adjust the game difficulty based on the user performance. The system will not only automate the administration and data collection process, but also produce new types of behavioral data, such as hand tremor, repetitive or hyperactive motions, and manipulation speed. The proposed technology development and evaluation will take the co-design approach in order to effectively address user-specific requirements and technical improvements for potential commercialization. A partnership with a local continuing care retirement community (CCRC) will streamline and accelerate the complex co-design process via utilizing the living lab established in the partnering CCRC.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.