A combination of tests to give a more complete picture of health
Funded through Innovate UK Contracts for Innovation, two projects will support the integration of high-quality digital cognitive tools into READ-OUT, helping to accelerate innovation and prepare these technologies for NHS use.
Together, these tools offer a more complete picture of cognitive health, supporting earlier, more personalised care.
The REAl-world Dementia OUTcomes (READ-OUT) study is led by Prof Vanessa Raymont, Prof James Rowe and Dr Ivan Koychev at Dementia Platform UK. It is a research programme aiming to improve early dementia diagnosis by using blood-based biomarkers, and this funding enables those to be combined with digital cognitive assessments.
This ‘bolt-on’ to the READ-OUT study is supported by the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative preparedness programme which offers implementation support and evaluation, drawing on experience from more than 50 health systems globally.
Smarter diagnosis with digital tools
University of Oxford spin-out Kneu Health’s project is building on a decade of research and clinical testing to deliver smartphone-based digital cognitive assessments that are already being used in clinics.
Now, the team is looking to make these digital tools even more effective by developing two new algorithms: a Hybrid diagnostic panel will combine results from smartphone tests with READ-OUT’s biomarker data.
Funded through Innovate UK Contracts for Innovation, two companies will support the integration of high-quality digital cognitive tools at 10 READ-OUT sites, helping to accelerate innovation and prepare these technologies for NHS use.
Together, they give a clearer picture of someone’s cognitive health earlier on, helping to make a more accurate diagnosis.
Removing barriers to early diagnosis
Food for the Brain Foundation, a registered charity, has created a digital cognitive test that’s designed to be used independently but using widely-available technology to reduce health inequalities.
It enables timely, accurate and scalable diagnosis of dementia through a validated tool integrated into NHS services.
This test checks four key areas of brain function: thinking speed; memory; recognition; and decision-making.
The web-based test can be done at home without any special equipment or training.
By including this tool in the READ-OUT study, the project aims to make early dementia detection easier and more widely available, so supporting opportunities personalised care and earlier intervention.
Supporting an NHS fit for the future
Speaking about the digital additions to the READ-OUT study, Dr Cynthia Bullock, Director, Healthy Lives at Innovate UK, said:
"Digital cognitive assessments have the potential to transform how we detect and diagnose dementia, making it faster, more accurate, and accessible to more people.
"By supporting these projects through the READ-OUT study, we’re not only driving innovation into NHS settings, but also helping reduce long-term care costs and improve outcomes for patients and families across the UK.
Professor Vanessa Raymont commented:
"This is an exciting opportunity, as being able to include two digital cognitive tests within the READ-OUT blood biomarker study will enable us to look at the wider benefit of using a combination of blood and digital tests to diagnose memory disorders more accurately, as well as how easily these could be rolled out across the NHS."
READ-OUT is recruiting over 3,000 participants across 30 NHS sites – with 20 sites already commissioned. There is a strong focus on inclusion, targeting 30% recruitment from underrepresented groups.
* The Blood Biomarker Challenge is a multi-million pound initiative led by Alzheimer’s Society, Alzheimer’s Research UK, the National Institute for Health and Care Research, and Gates Ventures, with £5m raised by players of People’s Postcode Lottery.