About one in three people in the UK living with the condition don't know they have it. Our technology can help find them sooner, with far fewer blood tests and more time for people to stay well. We are presenting the study behind it this week at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) annual meeting in Milan.
The people healthcare systems can't yet see
Driven by lifestyle and other factors, type 2 diabetes is becoming more common worldwide. In the UK, it affects around 7% of adults, and about one in three cases go undiagnosed. People living with it unknowingly stay invisible to healthcare systems until complications such as heart disease and nerve damage appear. The National Health Service (NHS) spends £10.7 billion a year on diabetes care, with around 60% of that going on managing such complications.
Finding people earlier is hard today. Screening relies on appointments with a general practitioner (GP) and blood tests. While the NHS Health Check offers diabetes screening to adults aged 40 and over every five years, only about 40% of those eligible take it up.
A 20-second voice check that reaches people where they are
Our technology flags signs of type 2 diabetes from 20 seconds of speech. Our voice sits at the intersection of the brain, nerves, lungs and muscles, so it reflects changes across the body. Type 2 diabetes has been linked to vocal strain, hoarseness and a shorter time someone can hold a sound. These changes are too subtle for the human ear to pick up, and our technology has been trained to detect them. A recording made over the phone or through an app, with no needle and no appointment, can reach people who never make it to a health check. Anyone flagged as at risk is referred for a blood test.
What our study found
8 out of 10 times, our technology gave a person with type 2 diabetes a higher risk score than someone without the condition.
0 people placed at low risk had diabetic or prediabetic blood results.
Close to 30,000 people took part in the largest study of its kind.
We are presenting these findings this week at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Milan.
Up to 50% fewer blood tests to find the same people
Today, finding people with undiagnosed type 2 diabetes means testing large numbers of individuals, most of whom will not have the condition. Each test takes an appointment, a sample, lab processing and someone to follow up the result. Our modelling suggests that screening by voice before referral could mean up to 50% fewer blood tests. Clinical testing will confirm that figure.
More time to stay well
Being found sooner gives people time to work with their GP on managing the condition before complications take hold. For patients, that means more years of good health. For healthcare systems, it means finding more people for far less.
Emilia Molimpakis, co-founder and CEO of thymia, said: “Everyone living with type 2 diabetes without knowing it could be protecting their health right now if they knew. Our technology gives healthcare systems a way to reach those people at scale, through something as simple as a conversation. Next, we are taking it through further clinical validation and regulatory approval, so they can be found in time.”
The team behind the work
The research was led by Roseline Polle and Dr Elisa Brann, with Dr Alexandra Georgescu, Owen Parsons, Dr Stefano Goria and Professor Barbora de Courten OAM. Dr Giedrė Čepukaitytė is presenting it at EASD this week. You can read the preprint on medRxiv.
thymia's voice intelligence technology is built on the largest dataset of its kind, gathered with full consent over six years: more than 100,000 unique voices measured over time, amongst other types of data. Every step brings us closer to understanding the human behind the voice.
