Software to automate biomedical music protocols
This project fits neatly into the intersection of technology, science, music, health, and the embodiment of moving towards inclusive community experience. Neuroscience professionals acknowledge that music is a direct pathway to activating cognition processes in the brain; specific exercises in the form of biomedical music protocols help redirect neural networks in persons with motor, speech, and cognition challenges.
Overview: The N.O.T.E.S. (Neuro Optimization To Ensure Success) blueprint seeks to improve the lives of millions of people challenged with developmental disabilities or medical rehabilitation issues. This project's goal is to automate specific biomedical music techniques into software apps for mobile devices. Science-based protocols using music are already developed to assist with various motor, speech, and cognition issues caused by disability, disease, or trauma. These protocols have been proven effective in research but are not broadly implemented. We are now in a society that looks to mobile devices to solve problems, making it an ideal time to automate the techniques and help bring music to the forefront in healthcare and educational solutions.
The initial app design helps persons challenged with attention focus problems. The app utilizes a large collection of music samples specifically composed for therapeutic use designed to target each client’s musical preference. As the client focuses on associating a different musical sample with a visual effect each time they use the app, they build their neural focusing skills. Session data is gathered to confirm the client’s accuracy and response time. Repetition over time should improve each client’s long-term ability to maintain focus, and the efficacy of the protocol will be confirmed from the statistics maintained from the data. Once development is completed and the application is launched, it could positively reach millions who are challenged with attention focus due to autism, stroke, Parkinson’s disease, and many other issues.MTGIC was honored to have won the Chattanooga Company Lab's "Will This Float" contest in December 2016. The win confirmed the recognition that this would be a truly valuable development efforts.
Goals and Objectives: The main goal and primary consideration of this project is to bring the completed product to market in excellent form at a price affordable by all who wish to purchase it, even those with limited finances. Profits resulting from product sales would feed back into product development and support continuing development on future modules. Such future modules could include apps to assist with challenges such as executive functioning or auditory perception. The ultimate solution is to bring the product forward sufficiently to the point in the marketplace where the broader business or research community already owning substantial development resources picks it up and moves it forward into the world. This will allow the maximum amount of people with challenges and disabilities to be assisted.
Current state of development: 1.) A basic functional prototype has been developed. It allows users to practice all functionality of the app and view or download their response data for analysis, 2.) The music database to feed into the app with music designed for therapeutic use is being created in partnership with professional composers and songwriters and is referenced in the Music Database portion of this website, 3.) A team of doctors and researchers to conduct full-scale research to verify the efficacy of the product and write up the research results in a scientific journal has been assembled, and 4.) The project presently needs funding for completion of development and research efforts.
An article about MTGIC winning the "Will This Float" contest in Chattanooga can be found here.
