The Faculties of Medicine and Science, Chulalongkorn University, in collaboration with University College London (UCL), the United Kingdom, together with industrial partner have developed Eartest by Eartone Application that examines hearing with Thai words processing that the public can use to screen dementia by themselves before consulting physicians to help prevent and reduce future risk of dementia.
Currently, there are 12 million elderly persons over the age of 60, among for which around 5-10 percent or about 1 million are at risk of dementia. The most common types of dementia are Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia. If dementia occurs, it will cause difficulties for the patients and their families. Currently, dementia cannot be treated. Therefore, preventing dementia is crucial. thailand university
According to Assistant Professor Chaiyaphat Chunharasmi, M.D., a brain specialist “reduced hearing is a highest risk factor of developing dementia that can be prevented, so older people should regularly check their hearing and brain activity. If in doubt, you should see a doctor as soon as possible to check for symptoms.”
Nattawan Utoomprurkporn, M.D., a lecturer of the Department of Otolaryngology, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, tell us that this project, Eartest by Eartone Application, use speech recognition to assess the potential risks of dementia. It is a hearing test to determine the ability to comprehend words and sentences that are in the Thai language using the virtual reality (VR) technique. It simulates real situations where sounds are coming from different directions to detect the processing of the brain in native language use by the patients. This can indicate whether there will be a chance of dementia occurrence in the next 5-10 years.”
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