Ryan Companion Robot for Assisting Elderly People With Alzheimer's Disease

NCT ID: NCT05052866

Last Updated: 2024-02-28

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 18 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2021-04-21
• Study Completion Date: 2022-05-30

Brief Summary

The objective of this project is to conduct research and a pilot study to demonstrate the potential clinical impact and technical feasibility of a socially-assistive robot, called Ryan Companionbot (hereafter Ryan), for life improvement and intervention of persons with early stage Alzheimer's disease (AD) and AD related dementia (ADRD). Earlier phases of this project demonstrated the feasibility and scalability of using emotion recognition technology based on cutting-edge natural language processing and artificial intelligence technologies to improve mood and lessen depression symptoms of persons with early stage AD/ADRD. In this phase, the investigators will utilize an aesthetically pleasing updated Ryan (V2.0) with emotion recognition and natural language processing for enhanced conversations to address the needs of the individuals with AD/ADRD and their healthcare providers as well as to test the effectiveness of Ryan by comparing participants pre- and post-treatment by analyzing several blood biomarkers related to AD/ADRD and depression. The investigators will recruit thirty participants from local senior living facilities based on their cognitive performance as assessed by the Saint Louis University Mental Status (SLUMS) score. SLUMS is commonly used as a simple screening/assessment test in senior living facilities. As part of the recruitment, the investigators will show prospective participants a video recording of a previous senior volunteer interacting with Ryan to give new recruits an idea of the socially assistive robot technology.

Conditions

Alzheimer Disease, Early Onset

Study Design

• Allocation Method: NA
• Intervention Model: SINGLE_GROUP
• Primary Study Purpose: SUPPORTIVE_CARE
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Robot Intervetnion

Participants in this Arm will interact with Ryan Companionbot.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Social Robot

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants will interact with a social robot companionbot for a period of 8-10 weeks. The robot will stay in participants' apartments.

Interventions

Social Robot

Participants will interact with a social robot companionbot for a period of 8-10 weeks. The robot will stay in participants' apartments.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• HAVING EARLY STAGE AD/ADRD AS ASSESSED BY THE SLUMS SCORE (BETWEEN 15-26),
• VERBAL SKILL TO INTERACT,
• BEING AVAILABLE FOR A PERIOD OF 8-10 WEEKS TO INTERACT WITH RYAN,
• HEALTHY INDIVIDUALS WEIGHING AT LEAST 110 POUNDS (FOR SAFE COLLECTION OF BLOOD SAMPLES).

Exclusion Criteria

• AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR
• DIAGNOSTICS OF SEVERE DEMENTIA OR MEMORY LOSS
• ACUTE PHYSICAL ILLNESS THAT IMPAIRS ABILITY TO PARTICIPATE
• DURING THE STUDY IF A PARTICIPANT'S MID-STUDY SLUMS SCORE IS LESS THAN 15 (INDICATING MORE SEVERE DEMENTIA) AND/OR THE PHQ-9 IS EQUAL TO OR GREATER THAN 20, THE CUTOFF FOR SEVERE DEPRESSION, THE RESEARCHERS WILL REMOVE THE PARTICIPANT FROM THE STUDY
• IF A PERSON IS UNCOMFORTABLE WITH BLOOD DRAW, HE/SHE IS EXCLUDED FROM THE STUDY.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 65 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

DreamFace Technologies, LLC

INDUSTRY

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Stephanie Melgar, BS

Role: STUDY_DIRECTOR

University of Denver/ DFT

Locations

Eaton Senior Communities

Lakewood, Colorado, United States

Countries

United States

Other Identifiers

2021-02

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id