Announcing a new digital twin generator for Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD v1.0)

By Anton Loukianov, Machine Learning Scientist

We are excited to announce the release of our latest Digital Twin Generator (DTG) in Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD). This DTG (FTD v1.0) builds upon our existing base DTG architecture [0] used with success in Alzheimer’s Disease and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in the past several months.

FTD, also known as Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration (FTLD), is a group of related brain disorders caused by degeneration of the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. It is particularly challenging to diagnose because it can present itself in a variety of ways: difficulty speaking, changes in mobility, or altered mood and behavior. Recently the condition gained attention when actor Bruce Willis announced that he was retiring from acting due to communication issues stemming from FTD [1]. There are currently no treatments to slow or stop the onset of symptoms and no cure. 

Although there are many promising therapies in development, the rarity and complex diagnosis of FTD has made recruiting participants for clinical studies difficult [2]. Recruitment challenges are a surprisingly common reason for high failure rates and long development timelines in clinical trials [3], and we believe this is a place where novel AI-based approaches can make a huge difference [4].

Our new DTG demonstrates strong performance on predicting common clinical endpoints used in FTD trials, a key component of our approach for reducing the number of participants required for clinical trials. This means that clinical trials using our solution can enroll fewer participants, or ensure that more participants can receive the treatment. We provide a detailed specification sheet describing the training data and characterizing DTG performance on our website [5].

FTD profoundly impacts those diagnosed with the condition, as well as their families and caretakers. By releasing a DTG for FTD,  we hope to accelerate the development of life-changing treatments for FTD and speed up progress in combating this debilitating disease.

[0] Introducing Unlearn's new Digital Twin Generation Architecture 

[1] Willis Family Statement | AFTD

[2] New Directions in Clinical Trials for Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration: Methods and Outcome Measures - PMC 

[3] They Have Alzheimer’s. This Clinical Trial May Be a Last Hope. - The New York Times

[4] https://unlearnai.substack.com/p/what-we-believe-at-unlearn-harnessing  

[5] Digital Twin Generator Spec Sheets