A virtual assistant to support parents of children with ADHD
By Neuro Solutions | Published on March 21, 2022
Problem and objectives
Problem
- Few behavioural management tools (ADHD, ASD)
- Few medication management tools (ADHD, ASD)
- Lack of available mental health professionals
- Little consistency and accuracy in the collection of behavioural data
- The decision-making process associated with the choice of medication is based on trial and error
- Long time (7-10 years) to get the right medication
Objectives
- Involve parents in supporting their child (ADHD, TSA)
- Develop a routine management tool
- Develop a medication management tool
- Help reduce the number of trial-and-error attempts
- Improve the care of children with ADHD or ASD and their families
Proposed solution
Solution
Neurosolutions Group is a Québec company that creates personalized and playful therapeutic interventions to improve the daily lives of people with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADD/ADHD) or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The company is developing, in collaboration with experts, fun-to-use technology solutions to celebrate difference. It is currently developing artificial intelligence (AI) tools in mental health.
Principle
Kairos is a web-based, mobile application based on video game principles that gives parents of children with ADHD or ASD access to a routine management system, virtual coach and side-effect monitoring tools. The goal of the tools is to increase children’s independence and monitor medication use more precisely. It provides parents and health care professionals with a more complete and objective view of changes in a child’s health. It helps with medication decision-making for health care professionals.
User experience
For the “Task management” module:
The parent logs on to Kairos on their smartphone. The parent schedules tasks for the child (e.g. make their bed, get dressed, brush teeth). The child logs on to their smart tablet where they can view the tasks to be performed. After the child completes the tasks, the parent validates them in Kairos. Validation allows the child to receive rewards through a video game (such as experience points or superpowers). A dashboard summarizing the child’s performance is generated based on the data for the parent and the healthcare professional.
For the “Medication management” module (that complements Kairos):
The parent enters the child’s medication as well as the dosage. At certain times, the parent receives questions from the “coach” on various adverse reactions that may potentially be related to the medication (e.g. sleep, appetite, mental health). Parents can view the information over different time periods and share it with their child’s care team. The parent has access to behavioural and side effects monitoring dashboards. A dashboard summarizing the potential adverse reactions of the drug is generated from the data for the parent and the health care professional.
Key figures (since January 2021)
- 20,000+ downloads
- 150,000+ tasks successfully completed by the children
Role of AI
Algorithms that are used
- Probabilities for the results calculations in the dashboards
In the process of determining appropriate algorithms for determining side effects, and ultimately for predicting the right medication
Impacts
Main outcomes
Experience and patient care:
- Better adjustment to routine tasks
- More regular health status monitoring
- Less time required to find the right medication
Medical team wellbeing:
- Provides access to regular and complete data
- Facilitates treatment monitoring
- Having access to specific information
Population Health:
- Regular monitoring of the health of children with ADHD or ASD
- Better care provided to the children
Economic development:
- Increase in personnel from 1 to 11 between 2020 and 2021
- Goal of 20 employees by 2025
Challenges takled
Before algorithms can be applied to the data, they must be cleansed, which involves enriching, correcting, structuring and labelling them. As a result, the process of applying AI in the health sector is time-consuming and requires significant human and financial resources, which is a challenge for startups and small businesses.
Conditions for success
Team mobilised
11 full-time employees
Areas of expertise: IT development
- Video game design
- UX/UI expertise
- Marketing
- Business development
External AI expertise: Seed AI
Collaborations
Neurosolutions Group is working with research centres to conduct clinical studies to assess the suitability of Kairos as a mental health management tool
- UQTR’s Psycho-Education Department (with 220 families, in June 2020)
The company is working with a foundation and a university to develop a “virtual coach” and parent’s manual, in addition to conducting a clinical study (early summer 2019 to late summer 2020).
- Fondation les Petits Trésors
- MEDTEQ+
- UQTR is also collaborating with technology transfer centres to optimize its virtual parent coach:
- CIMMI (collaboration began in September 2020)
Funding received
- Personal funds: CAD$500K
- Public funding
- Québec City: CAD$250K
- Canada Media Fund: CAD$450
- MEI: CAD$60K
- Canada Economic Development: CAD$230K
- Research fund (NRC, NSERC): CAD$150K
- Other funding (MEDTEQ+): CAN$50K
Total budget of CAN$3M from 2017 to 2021
Project stages
Summer 2021: Audit of database created by Seed AI
Verification of data relevance and proper structuring
Project stages - to come
Launch of round of financing to speed up R&D and marketing (fall 2021).
Mass marketing of Kairos (version without AI, winter 2022).
Mass data collection (readiness for AI, spring-fall 2022).
AI integration (advanced algorithms) in Kairos (2023)
Context of the solution
Customers
Current business model – B2C:
The Neurosolutions Group’s application is for families with a child with ADHD or ASD.
Medium-term business model – B2B2C:
The company is ultimately targeting mental health professionals to help them provide a better follow-up for their patients with ADHD or ASD.
Market opportunity
Target of 15,000 active users in 2022