"Just give me one minute…" The man who detects dementia risk through voice alone

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"July 1 marks the beginning of the second half of the year. People also have a second half to their lives. One of the diseases most people want to avoid during that period is dementia. Our mission is to help detect dementia risk as early as possible so that it can lead to prevention and management."

Lee Hyun-jun, CEO of Seven Point One, recently met with MoneyToday's startup-focused media platform 'Unicorn Factory' and shared the philosophy behind his company's mission in these terms.

What Seven Point One focused on was how easily and quickly dementia can be screened. As research accumulates showing that lifestyle management can slow cognitive decline, and as early-stage Alzheimer's disease treatments such as Eisai's 'Leqembi' and Eli Lilly's 'Kisunra' have emerged, the importance of early detection is growing.

However, existing cognitive function tests require time and personnel, and older adults who cannot recognize their own cognitive decline or who fall into medical blind spots easily miss opportunities for testing. This is why a simple screening tool is needed to identify at-risk groups before symptoms worsen and connect them with necessary tests and management.

To lower this barrier, Seven Point One developed 'AlzWIN,' an AI (artificial intelligence) voice recognition solution that screens for high dementia risk using just one minute of audio. When a user answers questions, the AI analyzes the content and patterns of speech to identify risks of cognitive decline.

The company did not initially target the dementia voice recognition market. After serving as Global Vice President of Finance at startup MimiBox, which was founded by alumni from Merrill Lynch's investment banking (IB) division and Y Combinator, CEO Lee entered the VR-based wellness business in his early entrepreneurial days. However, judging that the VR market had limited growth potential, he was considering a new venture when a turning point arrived in 2019.

During volunteer work with elderly people living alone, he encountered seniors who appeared to have declining cognitive function but were not receiving tests or management. Around the same time, a family member received a dementia diagnosis, which further directed his interest toward dementia.

Initially, he commercialized 'reminiscence therapy,' which uses VR to recreate past places and memories to help evoke old recollections. However, in the field, he discovered a more fundamental problem: many seniors did not even know if they were in the high-risk group for dementia.

At this time, he met Professor Kim Ki-woong, who had previously served as the Director of the National Dementia Center. Professor Kim's team had been researching accessible dementia screening methods since 2010. While CEO Lee envisioned a VR-based dementia solution, advice that a more accessible method was needed than VR, which requires separate devices, led him to focus on voice. By integrating AI with Professor Kim's team's research to automate and algorithmize the testing process, he commercialized AlzWIN.

CEO Lee stated, "To be truly helpful, accessibility had to be high above all else." He added, "Wearing a device itself can be a barrier for seniors. While considering ways to conduct tests without special equipment, we pivoted (monetary policy shift) toward using voice in 2019."

AlzWIN's main test takes about one minute to complete. For example, if asked to "name as many foods as you can," the user lists words that come to mind in sequence, such as kimchi stew, doenjang-jjigae (soybean paste stew), and cheonggukjang (fermented soybean paste soup).

The AI does not simply count the number of words spoken. The key is the 'semantic network' between words. It vectorizes the words spoken by the user and analyzes how strong the connections are between words with similar or related meanings.

It also examines whether the same word is repeated, how naturally the user transitions to words from different categories, and how long it takes to recall the next word.

CEO Lee said, "While the test itself is one minute, it simultaneously analyzes multiple factors, including semantic memory, verbal fluency, short-term memory, and strategic judgment." He added, "For seniors, the difference between one minute and five minutes is significant, so reducing testing time is important for improving accessibility."

The performance and field applicability of AlzWIN have already been confirmed through multiple real-world validations and clinical trials. From 2022 to 2024, AlzWIN was supplied to 56 Dementia Care Centers nationwide, where approximately 50,000 people in Gyeonggi Province, Jeonju City, and other areas have undergone testing, with about 8,000 screened as high-risk for dementia.

Starting in 2024, the company began full-scale efforts to obtain medical device approval. It recently successfully completed a confirmatory clinical trial conducted for approval by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and is currently proceeding with subsequent procedures. Approval is expected as early as next year, at which point the company plans to supply AlzWIN to major health checkup centers and hospital systems nationwide.

Overseas, the company is targeting the United States and Japan. In the US, it has completed FDA Class II medical device registration and supplied AlzWIN to a clinic in Ohio. As of year-end, it is scheduled to be supplied to 77 primary care institutional investors in the US. Previously, its AI-based high-risk dementia screening function was recognized for its excellence, earning an Innovation Award at 'CES 2023' in the US.

In Japan, the company signed a supply contract with a major local medical device wholesaler and began actively introducing AlzWIN into the Japanese medical field, starting with major hospitals in the Hokkaido region. In particular, it was recognized for its excellence by being the only dementia screening solution listed on 'HAIP,' a national-level medical AI platform built under the leadership of the Japanese government and global conglomerates. Currently, the company is concretizing business collaboration discussions with major local life insurance companies and global big pharma firms.

CEO Lee stated, "For dementia, it is most important to detect risk early and connect patients with necessary tests and management." He added, "Our goal is to help everyone easily and quickly check their cognitive health status and prepare for a healthy second half of life."

[MoneyToday startup media platform Unicorn Factory]