Pain recognition app ePAT has signed it first commercial deal which will see the technology rolled out through Dementia Support Australia (DSA).

The mobile app, which uses facial recognition software to analyse short videos to detect a patient’s pain, will be used by dementia consultants by the end of the month in Western Australia and South Australia.

The $40,000 per year deal is the first by the company, for partnership until 2019.

The sales revenue will be very welcome. ePat lost $8.5 million last year, leaving $2.6 million in the bank.

Shares in ePAT (ASX:EPT) were down slightly at 8c on Thursday morning.

The technology allows for carers to have a more accurate gauge of pain even if they can’t communicate verbally.

“An outcome of dementia can be a loss of ability to communicate and when that person is in pain it is sometimes displayed in frustration or behaviour that is out of character,” DSA director, Professor Colm Cunningham said.

“As a result, pain for people living with dementia may often go undetected or under-treated. DSA estimates that more than 70 per cent of their clients are experiencing under-treated or undiagnosed pain which impacts their quality of life significantly.”

They estimate that ePat will be a first line pain assessment tool for around 5,000 people with dementia in Australia each year.

The company are also developing an ePAT App for Children who have not yet learnt to speak.

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