What is HUME?
HUME is an MDR-certified wearable system developed at Mentech Innovation for real-time detection and monitoring of stress in people with intellectual disabilities and dementia. It measures electrodermal activity (EDA), a physiological signal that correlates directly with the activation of the autonomic nervous system during stress, through a smart textile worn on the wrist.
When HUME detects a stress response, it immediately notifies the care professional responsible, enabling timely and personalised intervention before behaviour escalates. This shifts care from reactive to proactive.
The problem it solves
People with intellectual disabilities and dementia often cannot verbally communicate distress. Behaviour that is labelled as “challenging” is frequently a downstream expression of undetected stress. Care organisations face high workloads, staff shortages, and limited tools to act in time. HUME bridges that gap.
Technology
The system consists of three layers:
Sensing & firmware: Custom PCB with EDA and heart rate sensors embedded in a washable, comfortable textile. Firmware written in C/C++ running on RTOS/Zephyr, transmitting data over BLE to a hub device.
AI/ML pipeline: Real-time signal processing and stress classification using multi-task learning models trained on labelled physiological data. Built in Python using PyTorch and TensorFlow. Multiple peer-reviewed papers demonstrate >90% accuracy on real-world data.
Cloud & care platform: AWS-hosted backend with secure data ingestion, alert routing, and a care professional dashboard. Fully compliant with NEN 7510 (Dutch healthcare data standard) and ISO 42001 (AI management systems).
Regulatory journey
HUME is certified as a medical device under the EU Medical Device Regulation (MDR), an extremely demanding standard that requires clinical validation, quality management (ISO 13485), and traceability across the entire product lifecycle (IEC 62304 for software).
Mentech was the first organisation in Europe to receive full ISO 42001 certification, the international standard for AI management systems, making HUME one of the most thoroughly validated AI-based medical devices in its category.
Research & publications
HUME was developed in close collaboration with academic and healthcare partners. The underlying research has produced 15+ peer-reviewed publications in journals including:
- IEEE Sensors Journal
- JMIR Formative Research
- Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology (Taylor & Francis)
- Assistive Technology: The Official Journal of RESNA (Taylor & Francis)
- Age and Ageing (Oxford Academic)
- Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities (Wiley)
Two patents were filed related to the core technology:
- A system for emotion detection and a method for personalized patterns in emotion-related physiology thereof (2022)
- A sensor carrier device for personalized emotion detection (2023)
My role
As CTO & Co-Founder of Mentech from 2016 to 2026, I led the full technical development of HUME, from the initial concept and hardware prototyping through to CE-marking and commercial deployment. This included building and leading the engineering team (growing to 35 FTE), defining the system architecture, managing the regulatory programme, and overseeing clinical partnerships.
