Singapore-developed AI-powered app accurately identifies pre-dementia seniors

SINGAPORE – A new locally developed digital application powered by artificial intelligence (AI) takes less than five minutes to identify seniors with early memory problems or pre-dementia, with an accuracy rate of up to 93 per cent.

Patients can use Pensieve-AI to draw pictures on a tablet with a stylus and the app’s AI will check different areas of thinking and memory before analysing the drawings for signs of pre-dementia.

It will soon replace current screening tools doctors use to assess for dementia, which include using pen and paper to draw a clock and recalling three random unrelated words, such as banana, sunrise and chair.

A nationwide study of the app completed in September 2024 found that it achieved an accuracy of 93 per cent in detecting pre-dementia, a result that is as good as the current gold standard of detailed cognitive testing.

The results were published in the scientific journal Nature Communications at the end of March.

Pensieve-AI was developed by the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) and the Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech), and is slated to be rolled out in 2026.

Dr Liew Tau Ming, a senior consultant in the department of psychiatry at SGH, said the Pensieve-AI test, which comprises four drawing tasks including a clock, can be done by seniors themselves with little or no help in 3½ minutes.

The current test can take up to 30 minutes to complete, depending on the patient’s literacy skills, and needs trained staff to administer.

“It was in June 2020 when we started to discuss and develop the app. A year later, in June 2021, we started our study on whether the AI would be able to detect pre-dementia. We recruited nearly 1,800 seniors aged 65 and above for the study,” Dr Liew said.

Pensieve-AI may become available at community sites, in the form of tablets. It cannot be downloaded to smartphones, to prevent people from learning to draw the images by rote.

“Mild cognitive impairment, or more commonly referred to as pre-dementia, is often missed because it can be mistaken as part of normal ageing. But pre-dementia can show up as more frequent memory lapses, trouble finding the right words, or increasing difficulty managing day-to-day tasks,” he said.

This is worrying for the authorities, as the number of people living with dementia will rise as Singapore’s population ages.

By 2030, about 80,000 of the almost one million seniors in Singapore are projected to have dementia.

One participant of the Pensieve-AI study was Madam Tan Yew Tee, 84, who was found to have early dementia after she was tested using the app.

“My mother has a penchant for bringing home brochures and it was a blessing that she brought the one on Pensieve-AI back from the (active ageing centre) which she was attending,” said her daughter and caregiver Nancy Hoon, 59.

“That was how we found out her condition. Otherwise, I would have thought she was getting older and her forgetfulness and memory lapse were all part of ageing. She kept asking me what day it was every five minutes. It was exasperating. (It was) only after I found out that she has early dementia that I became more understanding towards her,” she said.

Today, Madam Tan continues to go to an active ageing centre and her daughter also schedules activities for her to engage in with other seniors, such as arts and craft.

“The socialisation seems to have helped stave (off) the condition. She seems happier and is no longer the woman who sat and daydreamed in front of the television every day,” Ms Hoon said.