A therapeutic software that delivers remote speech therapy to individuals with Parkinson's disease

Descripción del proyecto

Logopedia a distancia para enfermos de Parkinson

La dificultad para hablar es uno de los síntomas más prevalentes de la enfermedad de Parkinson, la cual afecta en la actualidad a más de diez millones de personas en el mundo. El equipo del proyecto de Teleatherapy, financiado con fondos europeos, pretende revolucionar la forma de proporcionar logopedia a los enfermos de Parkinson. A tal fin, está desarrollando un «software» que conecta a los logopedas y sus pacientes para llevar a cabo sesiones a domicilio. A lo largo del proyecto piloto, la plataforma se adaptará a un uso más amplio por parte de personas con dificultades de comunicación adquiridas. En los ensayos iniciales se observó una reducción del 90 % del tiempo de espera de la intervención y del 60 % de las visitas a domicilio. En última instancia, el proyecto permitirá personalizar las sesiones de tratamiento, supervisar los avances y proporcionar información valiosa a los pacientes, al tiempo que se ahorrará tiempo a los logopedas y se garantizará una intervención precoz.

Objetivo

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurological disease worldwide after Alzheimer’s and is the fastest growing one. Over 10 million people in the world are living with this disease, of which about 90% will experience difficulties with their voice as the disease progresses.
At Teleatherapy, our goal is to make speech and language therapy accessible to all patients with Parkinson’s disease and to improve the service provided by speech and language therapy clinics. Our Teleatherapy platform aims to do this by allowing patients to practice therapy at home. Patient monitored through the platform enables therapists to receive key insights, saving therapists time and ensuring patients get the early intervention they require.
Teleatherapy is a web-based care management platform allowing therapists to: customize care plans for patients; monitor their progress by assessing the strength of the individuals' voice; and provide feedback each time the patient practices and adjust care accordingly. In parallel, it allows clinics to: increase their caseload; personalize speech therapy plans; and maximise patient compliance by allowing them to practice speech therapy on our mobile app. This will contribute to a significant reduction in PD treatment costs for the healthcare systems and wait lists.
PD Patients download a mobile app which delivers their care programme, analyses their voice, and tracks their progress for their therapist. Patients are guided through their practice with exercises, i.e. volume exercises, high and low pitch exercises, and practicing key every day phrases. Planned improvements to our Software as a Service will include the use of machine learning algorithms supporting enhanced voice analysis and progress monitoring, and the implementation of decision making and recommendation capabilities for therapists.