Center for Digital Health and Cognition

Mobile Technology for Cognitive Assessments

Tablet and Web-based Tools
The iBOCA is an iPad application built as the next generation of the MoCA or Montreal Cognitive Assessment, a rapid screening instrument for mild cognitive dysfunction. It assesses different cognitive domains: attention and concentration, executive functions, memory, language, visuoconstructional skills, conceptual thinking, calculations, and orientation. Digitization via the iPad allows for self-grading, accurate measurements, easily compiled results, along with more detailed analysis The iPad also allows for easy transport on a daily basis and coupled with the fact that results can be directly mailed to the subject or doctor for easy access upon the tests’ completion, makes the iBOCA much more convenient than conventional methods

Smartphones Tools
We are developing an affordable smartphone tool designed to inexpensively, accurately and efficiently diagnose dementia during its pre-dementia stage. Tablets and smartphones now allow for the capture of real time and real world background information. Our team has already developed a suite of tablet and smartphone based tests, the CNTookit and iBOCA, which capture not only traditional testing metrics but also real world information. We propose to conduct clinical pilot testing of our tablet and smartphone based apps, which collects passive and active data, to create a novel database of normal, MCI, AD and non-AD dementia patients’ performance across their naturalistic environments as well as their changes over time. We will use machine-based analysis to identify the optimal tests and environmental factors and create an adaptive smartphone app that relies on the most efficient series of tests for identifying dementia.

If you are interested in learning more about the above studies, please contact 617-667-0249 or email: alz@bidmc.harvard.edu.