Biomentric

Smartwatch-supported diagnosis & therapy of depression

Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich are investigating how smartwatches can support psychiatric diagnostics and therapy. Modern smartwatches can measure psychophysiological parameters such as patients’ movement patterns, sleep and heart rate, and at the same time collect core symptoms of psychiatric disorders using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) questions. In this way, the biomentric team can supplement their patients’ symptom descriptions with objective data and adapt interventions to patients’ individual patterns so that therapy motivation can remain high over time. With the development of their app, the biomentric team aims to optimise the basic psychological care of depressed patients in the long term.