Samsung launches fight against dementia: Galaxy smartphones and watches will help detect the early stages of Alzheimer's disease
To coincide with World Alzheimer's Day, which is celebrated annually on 21 September, Samsung Research has unveiled the results of research aimed at early diagnosis of dementia using everyday digital data.
Here's What We Know
Samsung's research divisions have developed algorithms that can track cognitive changes based on data from smartphones and wearable devices. Parameters analysed include:
- typing speed and frequency of corrections,
- app and messaging usage patterns,
- call frequency,
- sleep and speech parameters,
- gait, stride length and balance (using Galaxy Watch).
These data can identify signs of mild cognitive impairment that often precede dementia. Studies have shown that changes in the brain can begin 10-20 years before symptoms appear, so early diagnosis is critical because it gives time to make lifestyle changes and, through medication support, slow the progression of the disease.
Samsung presented two papers at the IEEE EMBS conference in Copenhagen: one on recognising cognitive impairment from keyboard input patterns and the other on gait monitoring using the Galaxy Watch.
Both technologies have demonstrated accuracy comparable to clinical tests, while requiring no active user involvement and minimising privacy risks.
Importantly, the speech and behavioural analysis model is language-independent, making it applicable across countries. Samsung will continue to validate the algorithms with the academic and medical community.
Source: Samsung Global Newsroom
