Smartphone App for Bipolar Patients Wins $100K Prize
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A smartphone app to assist people with bipolar disorder, conceived by Cornell researchers, has won the prestigious $100,000 Heritage Open mHealth Challenge.
The app for iPhone and Android phones, called “MoodRhythm,” was developed by a team led by Tanzeem Choudhury, associate professor of computing and information science, and postdoctoral fellow Mark Matthews. It uses a phone’s microphone, light sensors and accelerometer to monitor sleep and social patterns and combines this information with what the patient reports about daily activities, food routines and mood to learn what situations have positive or negative outcomes. The app gives the patient helpful advice to maintain a regular daily rhythm, while gathering vital information for the patient’s doctor.
Bipolar disorder, also called manic depression, affects some 5.7 million American adults in a given year and is characterized by extreme mood swings from a happy, hyperactive state to extreme depression. It is associated with poor functional and clinical outcomes, high suicide rates and huge societal costs.
Read original articleTags: bipolar disorder, Bipolar Patients Wins, Mark Matthews, Tanzeem Choudhury
