Tech firm helping dementia patients launches funding round
A Bristol-based firm which has come up with technology designed to help dementia patients has launched an investment round.
Milbotix is developing smart socks that track signs of stress and agitation in people with neurocognitive diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.
The company, which is backed by Alzheimer’s Society, is seeking angel investment to complete the development of the socks and match grants worth over £500,000.
Agitation and aggression in dementia is often caused by unmanaged pain and anxiety.
The socks contain comfortable sensors that measure the wearer’s sweat, pulse, temperature, and motion.
They work in conjunction with patent-pending artificial intelligence software and a mobile app that alerts carers to signs of distress.
The company’s founders Dr Zeke Steer and Jacqui Arnold said “We are seeking passionate, impact-oriented investors help us revolutionise how dementia care is delivered.”
The company is a spin-out from the University of Bristol and the University of the West of England.
Founded by robotics and AI expert Dr Zeke Steer and dementia specialist Jacqui Arnold, Milbotix’s mission is to improve the lives of people with dementia and other conditions.
Dr Steer was working as a software engineer in the defence industry when his great-grandmother, Kath, began showing signs of dementia.
A gentle person with a passion for jazz music, she became prone to bouts of agitation and aggression after her diagnosis.
Realising that technologies like artificial intelligence could revolutionise dementia care, Dr Steer quit his job and completed a PhD at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory so that he could find a way to help people like Kath.
“I came to see that my great grandmother’s symptoms weren’t an isolated case, and that distressed behaviours are very common,” he explained.
“Current alternatives to the socks are worn on the wrist, which presents problems with the devices being removed and causing distress.
