Amethyst Care: AI assistant to help older people live at home for longer
22nd July 2024
Founder and commercial lead Rebecca McManus. Image: Amethyst Care
Based in the SFI Adapt research centre at Trinity, Amethyst Care is led by Rebecca McManus and Prof Vinny Wade.
Rebecca McManus is no stranger to the many challenges and complexities of being a caregiver, having assumed the role for both her parents at various stages of life.
With both dementia and Parkinson’s in the family, she saw first-hand how mobility-related illnesses can drastically reduce the chances of people living independently at home for longer.
“Problems older people living alone face include loneliness, remembering to take medications on time and cognitive decline,” McManus tells SiliconRepublic.com. “Meanwhile, problems caregivers face can be stress, anxiety and time spent on caregiving for their loved ones.”
The alternative is not the most viable: putting loved ones in nursing homes, which according to her can cost up to €6,000 per month. “Private home care costs around €30 per hour,” she says, adding that this comes in the context of a rapidly ageing population in Europe.
To address this issue, McManus, who has more than a decade of experience in sales across companies such as FlowForma, Citrix and Pluralsight, founded a start-up that uses an AI voice assistant that provides care for older people living at home.
How it works
Known as Amethyst Care, the research project founded this year is based in Adapt, the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for AI-driven Digital Content Technology at Trinity College Dublin. The research side of the project is led by Prof Vinny Wade, chair of AI at Trinity’s School of Computer Science and Statistics and former director at Adapt.
“Our goal is to delay the time in which an older person suffering with mobility-related issues needs to go into full-time care. Along with improving delays in the healthcare system, we hope to use technology to coincide with face-to-face care, to keep vulnerable people at home for longer,” McManus, who is commercial lead for the start-up, explains.
The proposition is compelling: Amethyst Care’s product can provide continuous monitoring of vital signs and detect abnormalities; remind patients about medication and appointments daily; provide emergency alerts in case of falls or accidents; offer tools for memory enhancement and mental stimulation; and give real-time updates to family members and healthcare professionals.
“The data will be tracked through our analytics hub over time to allow medical professionals and carers to have a detailed view of the patient’s progress and ability to live at home,” McManus says. “This service [not only] reduces the cost of care and enables organisations to provide a better service but also improves patients’ lives and gives more data to improve patient outcomes.”
Diseases such as Parkinson’s and early dementia have been rising steadily around the world. According to World Health Organization statistics posted last year, there are currently around 55m people living with dementia – with 10m new cases every year.
How it’s going
Last week, Amethyst Care raised more than €500,000 from Enterprise Ireland through its Commercialisation Fund Programme, which supports third-level researchers in translating their research into innovative and commercially viable products, services and companies.
The project aims to begin user trials in January next year, focusing its pilots on hospitals, assisted living groups, home care and health insurance groups in Ireland, the UK and the US.
The US is the big prize, according to McManus, where the start-up has already lined up trial partners. In the meantime, Amethyst Care is looking to fill a few key roles by September across full stack development, AI research, quality control and a clinical lead.
By February 2026, McManus hopes to raise a round of investment as the project spins out of Adapt and begins its commercial journey, by which time AI will have advanced even more.
“So much has changed in recent years regarding AI,” she says. “A couple of years ago AI was something people had in their strategies – but not necessarily executing. Now, since OpenAI and GPT came along, it’s so important that AI is being built into the product from day one.”
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In-Depth: Research Week, Start-up of the Week
Related: AI, healthcare, research, Trinity College Dublin, entrepreneurs, Enterprise Ireland, Adapt
Vish Gain is a journalist with Silicon Republic
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