When patients suffer from a mental illness, it can be difficult for their physicians to get an accurate representation of their symptoms because the patients’ self-assessments can vary in accuracy, but one company is out to change that.
Medibio, a mental health technology company with offices in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Melbourne, Australia, is hoping to bridge the gap with a mission to build tools to objectively measure the link between physiological measures and mental health.
We spoke with Medibio on "Take Care" to get a better idea of their work in this growing field of medicine, which started about 20 years ago.
Since its conception, Medibio has sought to transform the way that mental healthcare is delivered, focusing more on data to understand what is happening within a patient’s body over time. These data, collected using wearable monitoring devices, include cardiac and sleep metrics and the activities of the autonomic nervous system, such as heart rate and digestion.
According to Medibio, the company is trying to make sure the data is actionable, which is why it is looking at the relationship between the brain and all of the other systems and organs in the body.
Though some physicians doubt this method as a blanket approach, Medibio said its approach could be something to make one small aspect of healthcare easier. Instead of a subjective self-assessment, Medibio is hoping a method more rooted in science and data can contribute to better healthcare in the end by providing one’s physician with accurate information.