A Digital Speech Therapy Solution for Stroke, Brain Injury and Progressive Neurological Disorders: The Cog-Neuro Mobile Speech Therapy Solution

In the UK, there are more than 150,000 strokes and 162,000 brain injuries every year and a significant number of Stroke and brain injury survivors leave hospital with a disability. Aphasia is a speech and language impairment that can be caused as a result of a stroke or brain damage. Due to shrinking budgets for speech therapy services, most patients have to wait long periods of time, often six months until they can see a speech therapist. This delay can have significant impact on the patient's rehabilitation potential and encourage the onset of depression, anxiety and frustration. Cog Neuro Speech Therapy will conduct a feasibility project in collaboration with Aneurin Bevan University Health Board and Cwm Taf University Health Board to investigate the potential of a fully mobile platform which can facilitate access to early intervention speech therapies for patients suffering with aphasia. The Cog-Neuro Mobile Speech Therapy solution will support the assessment of the patients' communication skills, provide remote therapy, and capture and analyse data for reporting and designing clinical pathways. The platform will offer a complete rehabilitation program in speaking, listening, reading, writing and cognitive therapies using real life scenarios through speech recognition technology and augmented reality technology. Patients will be able to choose the scenarios depending on their interest or pressing communication need such as answering the phone, ordering a coffee or attending a GP appointment. The technology will have the capability to capture and analyse information on the patient's progress and make it accessible to the clinician. This solution will aim to maximise the chances of successful treatment through early and intensive intervention. This project will introduce a novel method of delivering speech therapy for patients with aphasia whilst admitted or outside of hospitals and lead to better care provision and improved quality of life.