Students develop device to detect dementia

J-STORIES - A shuffling gait is one of the early signs of dementia that can be so subtle that it is easily missed by medical professionals, family members and even the individuals who have the disease. However, students at a technical college in Japan have come up with an ingenious solution: A device that attaches to a shoe to measure the wearer’s gait and uses artificial intelligence to analyze it for signs of dementia. It may even be able to predict the onset of the disease before major symptoms occur.

A sensor in a pressure-sensitive insole picks up potential signs of dementia by measuring acceleration and other movements.      Source: National Institute of Technology, Ichinoseki College — A sensor in a pressure-sensitive insole picks up potential signs of dementia by measuring acceleration and other movements. Source: National Institute of Technology, Ichinoseki College

The “D-Walk” device was developed by three students at Ichinoseki College in northeast Japan. It uses data from a sensor located in a pressure-sensitive shoe insole that is sent to a smartphone attached to the wearer’s waste. Number crunching produces a score that indicates the likelihood of dementia.

The device earned the trio, which call themselves TEAM MJ, the Grand Prize at DCON2022, a contest sponsored by the Japan Deep Learning Association. It awards prizes for AI deep learning-related technologies developed at Japanese technical colleges. Winners receive funds for development and the chance to commercialize their inventions.

The three Team MJ members who created D-Walk. The device was developed using data on the gait of 100 elderly people in the city of Ichinoseki.      Source: National Institute of Technology, Ichinoseki College — The three Team MJ members who created D-Walk. The device was developed using data on the gait of 100 elderly people in the city of Ichinoseki. Source: National Institute of Technology, Ichinoseki College

Team MJ's device is timely in a country whose population is among the most rapidly aging in the world. According to a Japanese government white paper, it was estimated that 1 in 5 people over the age of 65 in Japan will be suffering from dementia by 2025.

The trio focused on the shuffling and unsteady gait as it is a key symptom of dementia, and they hope that the D-Walk device will be able to not only detect, but also predict the disease at an early stage. Although there is no cure for the disease, when it is picked up early on it can be treated and slowed down, meaning the D-Walk device could help delay the serious onset of the disease.