Altoida Medical Device (AMD) is a class II medical device to screen and monitor cognitive outcomes. It supports neurologists to classify patients healthy, at risk, and with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) as a digital biomarker.

Learn more about our approach

Altoida Medical Device (AMD) provides health care professionals objective measurements of cognitive performance, and is indicated for use as an adjunctive tool to aid in evaluation perceptual and memory function in patients 55 to 95 years old. AMD is a FDA class II medical device enabling:

Early screening for cognitive decline patterns specific for prognosis (at risk) or classification of Mild Cognitive Impairment.

Monitoring cognition through evaluating perceptual and memory function in personnel at risk or with Mild Cognitive Impairment/Prodromal Alzheimer’s Disease.

Product components: Altoida Medical Device package contains an Altoida-customized iPad with pre-configured Altoida iOS app and Web Dashboard Login. The app offers access to the battery of three tests.

Patient Measurement: After completing the test batteries (10-15’ required), the neurologist receives access to a full patient report via a web-based dashboard (both fully HIPAA compliant).

Using an augmented reality framework that allows performing tests on complex everyday tasks while directly interacting with a user's environment and thus physically activate him, we are testing three major areas:

Spatial Memory"Hide-n-seek"
- Hide 3 Augmented Reality (AR) items in real-space
- Find them back in a random order
- Avoid environmental distraction
Prospective Memory"Fire evacuation drill"
- Learn a specific order of 3 evacuation actions using AR items
- Interact with those AR items in real-space
Executive Functions ‐  Psychomotor Processing Speed"Dual -task condition / varying difficulty levels"
- Instruction to go from point A to point B in real-space (target a hidden object)
- At the same time need to tap the speaker icon at a dynamic rhythm (dual-task) for the executive functions test
- Or tap the speaker icon while discriminating between a high-pitch target) and low pitch sound for the psychomotor processing speed test

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See it in Action

Fantastic achievement for our Alzheimer's Disease Prediction Service (ADPS) “EIT Innovation Award Winner 2018”

The winner of the €50 000 EIT Innovators Award was Ioannis Tarnanas, CSO for Altoida, whose Alzheimer's Disease Prediction Service uses an iPad and diagnostic tools to forecast with an accuracy of over 90% whether a person will develop Alzheimer's disease within six years. It is estimated that someone in the world develops Alzheimer´s every three seconds but only around 35% of sufferers are diagnosed. Early diagnosis allows personalized treatment to improve prognosis and quality of life. “This is probably the most significant award I have received in my career to-date,” Ioannis said. “I am grateful for the recognition of the many years of hard work, determination and sacrifice required in going against the status quo and striving to achieve excellence."

Our goal: Discover cognitive outcomes prior to clinical onset

Clinical trials and public health intervention programs are currently hindered by the lack of cognitive outcome measurements prior to clinical onset, which may be used to evaluate efficacy at this early stage.

Working on our goal we focused on finding specific spatial tasks, which are likely to target brain areas prone to the earliest pathologic changes.

Our findings, later verified by independent research, suggest that midlife persons with increased risk for later life dementia already show some subtle cognitive changes principally in visuospatial functions rather than the functions most commonly currently used to investigate preclinical and prodromal AD [1].

At Altoida we have developed an instrumental activities of daily living (iADL) methodology based on longitudinal clinical studies with more than 2750 patients at risk over a period of 8+ years.

After taking an iPhone app based test for 10 minutes, published literature from 2750 patients suggest that neurological index measurements may assist physicians in predicting the onset of MCI/pAD on average of 6 years prior to clinical onset.

[1] Karen Ritchie et al. The midlife cognitive profiles of adults at high risk of late-onset Alzheimer's disease: The PREVENT study. Alzheimer’s & Dementia 2017
[2] Tarnanas et al, Alzheimer’s & Dementia Journal 2014; Tarnanas, Ioannis et al. Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring , Volume 1 , Issue 4 , 521 - 532
Caution: Federal law (USA) restricts these devices to sale by or on the order of a physician.

More Informationclick to enlarge

Dementia causes

Early screening for AD

Current solutions

Scientific validation

Sensitivity & Specificity

Dashboard

Healthcare impact

Leadership: Medicine, Technology & Business Acumen

Ioannis Tarnanas

Founder & Chief Scientist (CSO)

PhD in Neuroscience; focus on Alzheimer’s and cognitive performance. 15 years research Dementia & Virtual Reality and previous track record in successful start-ups. Pioneered computational (functional) biomarkers for the early screening of AD as a low cost, internet delivered and non-invasive prognostic tool.

Maximilian Buegler

Chief Technology (CTO)

PhD in schedule optimization from TU Munich, Computational Modelling and Simulation, M.Sc. Operations Research, B.Sc. Knowledge Engineering, 4 years of experience in numerous AI research projects, teaching the Master's course "Artificial Intelligence in Engineering" at TU Munich

Dr. Richard Fischer

President & CEO

Throughout his career Dr. Richard Fischer has developed a great reputation in building highly profitable “Start-Up” companies in the global medical device arena. He completed the General Surgery residency program in Germany, before transitioning into the field of medical devices helping treat patients with innovative products.

Advisors: Healthcare innovations, technology pioneers

Dr. Walter Greenleaf

Strategic & Scientific Advisor

Dr. Walter Greenleaf is a behavioral neuroscientist and a medical technology developer working at Stanford University. With over three decades of research and development experience in the field of digital medicine and medical virtual reality technology, Walter is considered a leading authority in the field.
He served as the Director of the Mind Division, Stanford Center on Longevity, where his focus was on age-related changes in cognition. He is currently a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Stanford University’s MediaX Program, a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab, the Director of Technology Strategy at the University of Colorado National Mental Health Innovation Center, and a member of the Board of Directors for Brainstorm: The Stanford Laboratory for Brain Health Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
Dr. Greenleaf founded and served as CEO for Greenleaf Medical Systems, a business incubator; InWorld Solutions, a company specializing in the therapeutic use of virtual worlds for behavioral health care; and Virtually Better, a company that develops virtual environments for the treatment of phobias, anxiety disorders, and PTSD. In addition to his research at Stanford University, Walter is SVP of Strategic & Corp. Affairs to MindMaze and Chief Science Advisor to Pear Therapeutics. He is a VR technology and neuroscience advisor to several early-stage medical product companies, and is a co-founder of Cognitive Leap.
Dr. Walter Greenleaf has served as a scientific advisor and grant reviewer for the U.S. Public Health Service, National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institutes of Health (NIH), NASA, the U.S. Department of Education, and as a Principal Investigator for research grants funded by NIH and NASA. Dr. Greenleaf helped start the California State University Center for Disability Solutions and serves on the Board of Directors for the International Society of Virtual Rehabilitation.

Dr. Jon VanLeeuwen

Medical Advisor

PhD in neuroscience, Dr. VanLeeuwen works at the intersection of science, medicine and policy. He is a faculty member in the UCSF Neurology Department and at the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) he manages a committee that advises the VA Secretary. His work focuses on research strategy, translational science and using technology to make a global impact.

Devi Ramanan

Technical & Scientific Advisor

Devi has 20 years of global experience leading technical Product Teams in the Technology (Accenture & Ayasdi), Healthcare (Genentech, Pac Bio, InVitae) and Financial Services (UBS) verticals, at large companies and start-ups alike. She is a technical, hands-on problem solver who ensures & empowers her teams to succeed.
Devi is an advisor to several start-ups in the Technology & Healthcare verticals in Product/Data Science/Sales/BD initiatives. She has an MBA in Financial Engineering/Healthcare from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania as well as an MS in Cognitive Science (Biochem/Biophysics) and BS in Electrical Engineering/Physical Chemistry.

Phil Polakoff, M.D., M.P.H., M.Env.Sc

Strategic Advisor

Dr. Polakoff is a consulting professor, Stanford University School of Medicine and affiliated scholar, Stanford University Bill Lane Center for the American West. Dr. Polakoff’s career in health and health care spans 45 years and includes clinical services, product innovation, network development, care management, organizational and business enhancement, policy formulation, communications and financing. Dr. Polakoff’s previous positions have included being short listed for US Surgeon General, Senior Managing Director of publicly traded consulting firms, advisor to numerous payers, providers, investors, employers, labor organizations and public entities. Chief Executive Officer and Founder of A Healthier WE & Total Health Advocacy Partners (Thap!).

Dr. Michael Ropacki

Scientific Advisor

Dr. Michael Ropacki is the President of Strategic Global Research & Development (SG R&D), an S Corporation based in San Francisco, which collaborates with sponsors developing and executing Clinical Development Plans to maximize meaningful and productive regulatory interactions, as well as increase probability of technical and regulatory success. In addition, he currently serves as Chief Medical Advisor for Amarantus Bioscience and has specific oversight of the LymPro program. Dr. Ropacki also serves as Co-Chair of a Scientific Advisory Group for the Innovative Medicines Initiative-European Prevention of Alzheimer’s Dementia (IMI-EPAD) program, and he is a National Institute of Health (NIH) advisor. He is a member of the Critical Path Institute’s Critical Path for Alzheimer’s Disease (CPAD) and digital Drug Development Tool (dDDT) Team. Previously, he was Co-Chair of the CAMD Preclinical Cognitive Outcome Assessment (COA) team working with the Food and Drug Administration's Drug Development Tool, COA Qualification Program. Dr. Ropacki authored or co-authored of dozens of published manuscripts and abstracts and was an Assistant Clinical Professor of Neurology at the Loma Linda University School of Medicine. Dr. Ropacki also previously served on the Steering Committee at the New York Academy of Sciences-Global Alzheimer’s Platform (GAP), and Co-Leader of the GAP Registries-to-Cohort team.

Professor Dr. Elgar Fleisch

Strategic Advisor

Elgar Fleisch has a double appointment at ETH Zürich and University St. Gallen (HSG). At ETH, he is a full professor of information management, at HSG of technology management. His work focuses on applications, economic impacts, and infrastructures of mobile and ubiquitous computing.