Hi, Yangcheon-gu Dementia Safety Center and Dementia Prevention Cooperation

Director Kim Geon-ha of Yangcheon-gu Dementia Relief Center (Professor at Ewha Mokdong Hospital) and CEO Kim Jin-woo of Hi (from left in the photo) held a business agreement ceremony on the 11th and are taking a commemorative photo. (Photo by Hi)

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] Hi, a digital therapeutics specialized company, announced on the 14th that it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the 11th with Yangcheon-gu Dementia Safety Center for the use of the smartphone application ‘Alzguard’ for screening cognitive decline groups.

The signing ceremony was held with the attendance of Jinwoo Kim, CEO of Hi, and Geonha Kim, Director of Yangcheon-gu Dementia Safety Center (Professor at Ewha Mokdong Hospital).

Through this agreement, early community dementia screening and prevention using Hi’s digital healthcare device Alzguard are expected to be realized. In particular, Hi plans to utilize data collected through the Yangcheon-gu Dementia Safety Center to further improve screening accuracy and gather participants’ feedback to derive UI/UX improvements. To this end, Hi will provide Alzguard and related devices free of charge and conduct user training. Additionally, both organizations agreed to jointly strive to play a leading role in dementia prevention, provide integrated dementia services, and establish health, medical, and welfare networks.

Alzguard is a cognitive screening program for early dementia detection developed by Hi with support from the Ministry of Science and ICT. Alzguard tests cognitive ability through seven games. In a pilot test conducted through Suncheon Nonghyup, it recorded a screening accuracy of 80%. Alzguard was jointly researched and developed by Hi, Ewha Mokdong Hospital, VisualCamp, Sangmyung University, and Korea University.

CEO Jinwoo Kim said, “Screening for cognitive impairment using digital healthcare devices is a global trend, and Alzguard was developed to maximize screening accuracy by utilizing three types of digital biomarkers: eye tracking, voice, and cognition.” He added, “If additional data is secured through this partnership, we expect to develop a global-level cognitive screening tool in a short period.”

Director Geonha Kim explained the significance of the agreement, saying, “Digital healthcare devices like Alzguard are expected to provide practical benefits to elderly people who have difficulty visiting the safety center due to mobility issues.” He added, “We will do our best to improve accuracy so that it can be established as one of the measures to judge cognitive decline in the elderly at an early stage.”