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‘ T he Land of the Rising Sun’, Japan, has throughout history, been one of the frontrunners in innovation. From the secret sword-making techniques of smiths back in the feudal era to the invention of efficient bullet-trains today, the country has always paved the way for excellence.
As a proud Japanese technology leader, Yosuke Toyama always wanted to follow in the footsteps of his ancestors and do his part to make the world a better place to live in. And when one of his older family members became demented, he realized that as one of the modern world’s first ‘super-aged’ societies, a lot of senior citizens in Japan were at risk of falling prey to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
Subsequently, when the World Dementia Council predicted the ageing population of Japan to cause a surge in the number of dementia patients: a total of 13 million patients by the year 2025, Toyama started bspr Inc. as a way tocurb the effects of this grim statistic. With a mission to solve the prevalent social issues using technology innovations, Toyama then gathered a team of highly passionate and experienced individuals from the worlds of healthcare and technology. As an organization, bspr Inc. is dedicated to making the treatment for dementia easily accessible to every family that needs it. “As an individual with firsthand experience in caring for a patient with dementia, I recognized how effective treatment for the disease could help a lot of people, patients and otherwise, live longer and happier lives,” says Yosuke Toyama, CEO at bspr Inc.
Cognitive Technology Backed by Renowned Research
Founded in 2012, bspr Inc. currently offers a comprehensive brain health service for dementia patients in Japan and the world at large. And as Toyama and his partners began assessing the steps for the development of an effective treatment avenue for dementia, they found Dr MiiaKivipelto’s Finnish Geriatric Intervention (FINGER) study to prevent cognitive impairment and disability. According to the research, to counter the cognitive decline, an individual has to focus on four key facets in their everyday life— diet, exercise, health monitoring, and memory training. Alongside the insights from the FINGER study, bspr also combined research performed by various other academic and scientific institutions. These include studies from Nakonojo Research—a health and long-life medical centre in Tokyo, Kyushu and Tohoku universities in Miyagi and Fukuoka, Japan, as well as leading institutes in the U.S. such as the University of Wisconsin and the National Institute of Longevity.
After compiling critical data sets from these dementia-related studies, bspr Inc. developed a smartphone application, called ‘Braincure,’ which the company plans to turn into a certified treatment avenue for dementia in the future. “Braincure promotes exercise, timely eating, and mental exercise while offering functionalities such as test services for cognition and a ‘family site’ to increase the activity continuation rates among users,” states Toyama. He further discusses the significance of bspr’s ‘family site’ service into Braincure as a motivator for users to stay connected with the people they love and themselves, and how that plays a role in improving their cognition.
With such core competencies, bspr Inc. has already received w i d e s p r e a d praise for the application’s success in the healthcare space. In joint research with a leading Japanese medical institute, the company witnessed that 96 per cent of Braincure’s users had a significant increase of grey matter. Currently, the application offers modules to offer customizable exercise, brain training, diet, and self-assessment regimens that are designed to notify users based on their activity and continuation rate, and help them improve cognition.
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