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AiCure Introduces Industry’s First Computer Vision Platform to Remotely Capture Digital Biomarkers in Clinical Trials

April 28, 2020

Solution uses computer vision and AI via a patient’s smartphone to detect subtle visual and auditory responses to medication, gathering objective insights to improve trial outcomes

New York, N.Y. AiCure, an AI and advanced data analytics company focused on improving clinical trials, today introduced to the market its digital biomarker platform to remotely detect subtle changes in a patient’s condition. The platform leverages computer vision and AI to gather and analyze visual and auditory cues directly through the patient’s smartphone camera, pinpointing critical patient responses and behavioral trends with the frequency and accuracy needed to elevate the integrity of clinical trial data. By aggregating clinically-sound insights in a patient’s natural environment, AiCure empowers pharmaceutical companies to improve their understanding of disease symptomology, drug dosing side effects, and stratified disease variations, ultimately supporting improved health and trial outcomes.

“Many symptoms are visual or audible in nature. Knowing that someone with depression only took 2,500 steps tells us limited information, but knowing they look sadder than usual and their speech is slowed provides a much deeper understanding of their status and potential underlying conditions,” said Ed Ikeguchi, M.D., CEO of AiCure. “For the past decade, pharmaceutical companies have trusted us to engage with patients via their smartphones to track medication adherence. We are now well-equipped to advance the measurement of behavioral and physical symptoms in the comfort of the patient’s own home, significantly improving the frequency and accuracy of measuring symptom progression.”

In any clinical trial, the collection of accurate data of a patient’s response to treatment is critical to understanding the impact a drug actually has on patients. Often, clinical trials require several in-person patient visits where clinicians note any changes in a person’s emotional and physical condition. These visits, which can be burdensome for patients and expensive for trial sponsors, can be infrequent and subjective, especially as patient symptoms may not be visible at the time of the visit. AiCure aims to eliminate these blind spots by creating more frequent check-ins that take place in the comfort of a patient’s home, providing more accurate accounts of a patient’s holistic wellbeing. AiCure’s digital biomarker platform uses a person’s smartphone to ask the patient simple questions or have them complete brief tasks, and then uses AI to analyze behavior, such as response time, affect, physical movement and speech patterns. For example, many neurological conditions have significant visual symptom indications. AiCure’s platform can be used to measure the severity of facial tremors or eye twitches for a patient with Parkinson’s. This highly sensitive measurement of a patient’s response to treatment advances the validity of trial data when making claims regarding a drug’s impact.

Building on the success of its medication adherence platform, AiCure’s digital biomarker platform:

  • Captures visual and audio data via a smartphone – AiCure’s portfolio of digital biomarkers measure far more than traditional wearable metrics such as movement trends. Instead, it helps to advance the digital biomarking industry by tracking a variety of metrics simultaneously, including mood, tremors or cognition, to indicate a negative response to treatment. By doing so through an everyday device such as a smartphone, the platform helps to democratize access and participation, and improve the likelihood of ongoing engagement.
  • Complies with data privacy regulations – The platform offers objective observations of patients and clinical trial participants in their natural environment, while providing HIPAA and GDPR compliant patient data. This allows for medical-grade, secure data capture and processing.
  • Developed to be scientifically sound and open – AiCure has developed its platform to be transparent and gives pharmaceutical companies open access to its algorithms’ methodologies. Built on validated scientific methodologies in laboratory-based settings, AiCure’s digital biomarker algorithms provide meaningful, clinically sound data that can be submitted to the FDA.

About AiCure

AiCure is an AI and advanced data analytics company that monitors patient behavior and enables remote patient engagement in clinical trials. AiCure improves predictability of study timelines, reduces costs and accelerates timelines through remote patient engagement and assessments, including measuring digital biomarkers and real-time monitoring of patient dosing. Founded in 2010 and funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and leading institutional investors, AiCure has more than 65 issued patents and works with global clients in over 30 countries. AiCure is globally recognized and is a recipient of the Scrip Award, AI 100 and Digital Health 150. For more information, please visit www.aicure.com.

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Siobhan Nguyen
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