Conversational Agents for Managing Perioperative Psychological Stress
The Opportunity
Patients scheduled for major surgeries face considerable mental health concerns such as chronic stress, anxiety, and depression. Surgeries can also present longer-term challenges such as chronic pain, opioid dependence, cognitive decline, and poor functional recovery. The goal of this project was to create an innovative, conversational agent for managing perioperative psychological stress through remote delivery of psychotherapy.
Our Approach
Combining physiological sensing and voice-based therapy, this team developed a smartwatch application for detecting and managing perioperative psychological stress through text-based mindfulness exercises. The team used a single-arm clinical trial to demonstrate the feasibility and acceptability of this application in adult surgical patients. A lab-based study enrolled 32 patients to develop predictive models of stress. The team was then able to develop a fully integrated model for measuring respiratory signals and completed the development of a voice-based agent for mindfulness breathing exercises.
The Solution
Additional outcomes are not complete for this project, so please check back at a later date for more information.
