NTU-linked company offers new AI-powered tool for early dementia screening

SINGAPORE: Gray Matter Solutions, a spin-off company from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), has announced a partnership with Osler Group, a leading health and wellness organisation, to introduce an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven screening tool designed to detect mild cognitive impairment (MCI) quickly and affordably.

MCI is an early stage of cognitive decline that may precede dementia. Individuals with MCI often experience mild memory lapses or difficulty with complex tasks and decision-making. However, these symptoms are usually subtle and do not significantly disrupt daily life, making early detection challenging.

Currently, diagnosing MCI relies on neuropsychological evaluations and imaging techniques such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), which can cost over a thousand dollars and require several hours. In contrast, the newly developed AI-powered tool, named ReCOGnAIze, aims to provide a faster and more accessible alternative.

Developed at NTU’s Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine), ReCOGnAIze uses neuroscientific games to assess cognitive function, completing the screening process in just 15 minutes.

The tool includes four specially designed games targeting clinically significant cognitive and behavioural domains, drawing from over 125,000 hours of research conducted at LKCMedicine’s Dementia Research Centre (Singapore).

The innovation is expected to have significant global impact, particularly in Asia, where an estimated 250 million individuals with chronic vascular diseases—such as hypertension—face an elevated risk of developing MCI.

By leveraging AI and neuroscientific research, this collaboration between Gray Matter Solutions and Osler Group seeks to revolutionise early dementia detection, making it more efficient, cost-effective, and widely accessible.