A pilot study conducted by Vaaji in collaboration with the Penn Artificial Intelligence and Technology Collaboratory (PennAITech) at the University of Pennsylvania has demonstrated 100% technical accuracy in monitoring transdermal patch status. The study, part of the AI/Tech + Aging (A2) Collective funded by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), validates Vaaji's smart patch system as a potential tool to significantly improve safety in medication delivery. This development addresses a critical safety gap where patients or caregivers may accidentally apply multiple patches or forget applications, leading to ineffective treatment or life-threatening overdoses.
Transdermal patches are essential for delivering medications for Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and pain management. However, real-world errors like "patch stacking"—applying a new patch without removing the old one—pose serious risks. Vaaji's solution transforms standard patches into smart therapeutics using Internet of Things sensors and Artificial Intelligence to provide real-time visibility into medication adherence. The proof-of-concept study enrolled 51 healthy volunteers using placebo patches to evaluate detection capabilities against manual oversight, achieving perfect correlation between remote monitoring data and site investigator records.
The study's findings show 100% agreement between Vaaji's monitoring and the "gold standard" of direct human supervision, with the system successfully identifying simulated patch stacking in real-time. This validates the core technology needed to prevent overdose events in future clinical applications. The technology also integrated smoothly into volunteers' daily routines, supporting feasibility for home-based care. Patrick Mercier, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UCSD and Chief Technical Advisor at Vaaji, stated that the study provides the first real-world evidence of perfect accuracy in detecting patch application errors, a critical step toward enhancing patient safety in Alzheimer's care.
William Z. Potter, MD, PhD, co-Principal Investigator and Chief Scientific Advisor at Vaaji, noted that the 100% agreement between remote monitoring and site records is a landmark result, demonstrating the system's potential to match human oversight for safer home care solutions. Sandeep Patil, MD, PhD, Co-founder of Vaaji, emphasized the urgency of such technologies given the rapidly aging population, thanking the support of the A2 Collective, PennAITech, and the NIA. The project is supported by the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number 1-P30-AG-073105-01, with more information available at https://www.vaaji.io.
The data from this pilot study will inform Vaaji's clinical and regulatory strategy as the company advances toward broader trials involving active therapeutics, aiming to establish its smart monitoring platform as a new safety standard for high-risk transdermal medications. The A2 Collective, representing the Artificial Intelligence and Technology Collaboratories for Aging Research program, awards funding to projects leveraging AI and transformative technologies to support healthy aging and those with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. This technological advancement could have significant implications for patient safety, reducing medication errors and improving outcomes for vulnerable populations relying on transdermal therapies.
