A smartphone App developed by Curtin University over the past 3 ½ years can identify patients with dementia suffering pain, utilising facial recognition technology. The app takes a 10 second video of the patient’s face and analyses it for the presence of pain.

Research shows that untrained staff in aged care facilities (and retirement villages) were unaware on how to assess pain effectively

It is likely to be classed as a medical device by June 2017.

The publicly listed mining company MinQuest is acquiring the research company ePAT (electronic pain assessment tool) and has announced it will divest its mining assets to concentrate on launching the ePAT App.