A growing trend in the mental health field is the use of technology to improve the accuracy and speed of diagnoses. One example of this is Senseye, a Texas-based mental health platform that is testing a phone app that measures eye movements to detect PTSD. This initiative aims to bring research out of the lab and into therapists’ offices and patients’ homes.
Another example of this trend is Clinicom, an adaptive assessment tool that screens for over 80 mental health conditions in five languages. This digital tool uses augmented intelligence to learn from how clinicians respond to recommended diagnoses, providing more accurate assessments while allowing clinicians to retain diagnostic control.
Dr. Christopher Lucas, a psychiatrist at Upstate Medical University, noted in an open letter that Clinicom efficiently and accurately assesses the full picture of a patient’s presentation, reducing false positives and negatives. The ability to screen an entire school district or state in a day with Clinicom is seen as a significant advancement in mental health diagnosis.
One user of Clinicom, Handal, noted that the tool feels like it’s listening, which helps build trust with those being assessed. As technology continues to advance, it’s likely that we will see more innovative solutions like these emerge in the mental health field.
