Volunteers are being sought for a new clinical study which will assess the potential use of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) processing app to detect early-stage mood change within the perinatal period, including early detection of post-natal depression.
The technology behind this trial has been developed by the study's partner BlueSkeye AI, as profiled by BBC Panorama in August 2023. It is being assessed in close collaboration with academics at the University of Nottingham, experts in Public Patient Involvement (PPI) and senior clinicians in specialist mood disorders and perinatal psychiatry at Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.
Following initial pre-clinical work the study is recruiting up to 125 volunteers from 12 weeks pregnant to 12 weeks postpartum, to use TrueBlue on their mobile devices; aiming to assess whether it is safe, usable, acceptable and how far predictions from the technology agree with standard clinical measures of depression and anxiety.
Participants can choose to interact with standard text, or a 'virtual human' avatar, called Kiera, who will guide them through simple tasks over 12 weeks.
If successful, TrueBlue would provide an automated, 21st century alternative to current clinical scales, which date back in some instances to the asylum era and are heavily reliant on individual perspective.
This new technology could offer mood monitoring at scale and at the convenience of patients, within their daily lives - providing earlier detection of mood disorders, more targeted NHS resource use and more effective clinical intervention.
The technologies developed by Blueskeye AI may finally move us beyond traditional clinical assessment, to a more objective measurement of mood that can be deployed at scale and at the convenience of patients. In collaboration with key stakeholders, we are now assessing the real-world potential of this technology - with the hope of earlier detection of emergent mood disorders, improved targeting of clinical resource and better patient outcomes."
Participants can either take part in person at the Institute of Mental Health at the University of Nottingham or completely online if more convenient.
