Objective Asessment of Depression and Its Improvement

Current methods to assess depression and then ultimately select appropriate treatment have many limitations. They are usually based on having a clinician rate scales, which were developed in the 1960s. Their main drawbacks are lack of objectivity, being symptom-based and not preventative, and requiring accurate communication. This work explores new technology to assess depression, including its increase or decrease, in an automatic, more objective, presymptomatic and cost-effective way using wearable sensors and smart phones for monitoring 24/7 different personal parameters (physiological data, voice characteristics, sleep, social interaction, etc.). We aim to enable early diagnosis of depression, prevention of depression, assessment of depression for people who cannot communicate, better assignment of a treatment, early detection of treatment remission and response, and anticipation of post-treatment relapse or recovery.