5 October 2021
PureTech Health plc
PureTech Founded Entity Sonde Health Launches Vocal Biomarker Technology to Monitor Mental Health and Well-Being
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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