Digital App for Speech and Health Monitoring in Neurodegenerative Disorders

What this Trial Is About

Researchers are studying speech problems in people living with neurodegenerative conditions such as dementia, motor neuron disease (MND), multiple sclerosis (MS), and Parkinson's disease (PD). This research aims to use digital technologies, like smartphone apps, to record and analyze speech in detail. The goal is to help diagnose and monitor these conditions by comparing speech data from people with these diagnoses to those without any neurological condition. The study uses a digital platform co-developed with people affected by neurodegenerative disorders to collect speech data. Participants include people diagnosed with dementia, MND, MS, or PD, as well as healthy volunteers and relatives or carers without neurological diagnoses. Researchers will gather acoustic speech data and apply machine learning to analyze speech patterns such as rhythm, intonation, and fluency without focusing on the spoken text. They will compare these digital speech measures to current clinical standards. Participants will provide speech samples using the digital app, and their data will be linked to detailed clinical registries. The study will assess how feasible and acceptable this digital speech monitoring is for clinical care and research. Researchers will create a repository of voice samples for future research collaborations. The study's main and secondary outcomes will be measured over 24 months, with ongoing data collection and analysis during this period.

Digital App for Speech & Health Monitoring