UCLA Health joins $2.5M NIH study to test pendant for early Alzheimer’s detection and fall risk

UCLA Health, partnering with BioSensics, will lead a 12-month, $2.5 million NIH-funded trial of a wearable pendant that monitors cognitive changes and fall risk in the homes of 100 older adults in Los Angeles.

UCLA Health announced a collaboration with biotechnology firm BioSensics on a federally funded project aimed at detecting early signs of Alzheimer’s disease and assessing fall risk using a simple wearable pendant. The National Institute on Aging of the NIH is providing $2.5 million for a 12-month study that will enroll 100 older adults who will wear the device in their own homes, eliminating the need for frequent clinic visits.

The research, led by Bijan Najafi, professor of surgery and director of the UCLA Center for Advanced Surgical and Interventional Technology (CASIT), and Ashkan Vaziri, BioSensics founder and CEO, will evaluate whether changes in gait and speech captured by the pendant can reliably indicate cognitive decline. Co-investigator Linda Ercoli, director of the UCLA Longevity Center, will oversee the clinical assessments.

The NIH grant will support a year-long pilot in which participants’ daily movements and conversations are recorded by the pendant’s built-in sensors. Researchers hope to correlate these digital biomarkers with standard neuropsychological tests to determine if the pendant can flag early memory or balance issues before a formal diagnosis. The study’s primary outcomes include the pendant’s ability to detect the presence and severity of cognitive difficulties and to monitor changes over time, all without a clinic visit.

UCLA Health serves as a sub-awardee to BioSensics, the primary awardee. Najafi and Vaziri are listed as principal investigators on the award, while Ercoli, a clinical neuropsychologist specializing in cognitive aging, acts as co-investigator. The team will collect data remotely, allowing participants to continue their normal routines while the pendant continuously monitors posture, walking parameters, and speech patterns.

BioSensics is also developing a chest-worn sensor called PAMSys+, which recently received a $1,245,820 Phase II SBIR award from the NIH’s National Institute on Aging (SBIR.gov). PAMSys+ combines dual-task motion tracking with dual-microphone audio capture to generate digital speech biomarkers, a technology similar in concept to the pendant’s dual-task gait monitoring. The device is FDA-listed as a Class II medical device and has been used in more than 100 clinical studies worldwide (BioSensics).

Scientific literature underscores the promise of dual-task gait as an early indicator of Alzheimer’s. A 2023 cross-sectional study found that gait variability and rhythm measured during walking while performing a cognitive task can differentiate individuals with mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer’s from healthy controls (PMC). With Los Angeles’ rapidly aging population, 7.4 million Americans age 65 and older already live with clinical Alzheimer’s, a number projected to rise dramatically (PMC), home-based monitoring could reduce clinic burden and improve early intervention for local seniors.

Los Angeles faces a looming dementia surge as its senior cohort expands. A home-based pendant that flags subtle cognitive shifts could keep older Angelenos safer in their own neighborhoods, reduce emergency falls, and free up overtaxed clinic slots for those who need in-person care. Early detection also gives families more time to plan, a critical advantage in a city where multigenerational households are common.