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Dementia Health Tech Horizon Scan — Diagnosis
Dementia Health Tech Horizon Scan — Better care
Dementia Health Tech Horizon Scan – New treatment
Nearly 1 million people in the UK are living with dementia, a figure set to soar to 1.4 million by 2040. This is driving demand for innovative technologies that can enhance treatment outcomes for those affected.
The Health Innovation Network south London conducted a Dementia Health Tech Horizon Scan - New treatment report in March 2025 as part of a wider collaboration with the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and the NIHR HealthTech Research Centres (HRCs).
The report provides a brief overview of 48 products and innovations currently available with the potential to support, or lead to, better treatments for dementia patients. Search criteria for these companies consisted of:
Preventive and self-management healthcare technologies.
Digital exercise programmes in healthy ageing and keeping active.
Sensory stimulation tools for people living with dementia.
Brain stimulation technologies.
Cognitive enhancement tools.
Technologies that support the development of new treatments for people with dementia.
From the 48 companies identified:
58.3% of the total products in this scan indicated the use of artificial intelligence (AI).
Gamified therapies are the most common area for innovations in this space, representing 33.3% of companies identified.
Virtual and augmented reality emerged as a promising technology - it is used in 18.8% of gamified therapies, and 33.3% of cognitive training apps.
Four different clusters of terms with high co-occurrence were identified in research articles related to new treatments. These are:
Different digital technologies that are being used in dementia research.
Patient and staff experience when using these technologies.
The terms used in the study of these technologies, either through clinical trials, literature reviews, or systematic studies.
Clinical trials parameters used on the clinical trials, such as patient demographics, “primary outcomes” and “baselines”.
Together, the clusters begin to form a clearer picture of how digital innovations are being developed, evaluated, and implemented in dementia treatment.
This project is funded through the NIHR HealthTech Research Centre in Brain Health. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.
Publicly available sources were consulted, including the following external websites: Dimensions, ClinicalTrials.go, Crushbase, UK Research and Innovation, and Dealroom. The following organisations were also consulted: Integrated Care Systems, UCL Partners, National Institute for Health and Care research (NIHR), Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI), Digital Health.London, and Health Innovation Network south London.
This horizon scan is limited to innovations known to the Health Innovation Network South London, and a wider search. The majority are still building evidence and those that are deployed have yet to receive NICE recommendations. Description of products have been taken from company publicly available documents and marketing materials. Claims have not been validated as part of the market review. The Health Innovation Network do not endorse any of the commercial products included within this document.
The innovations and companies included in horizon scan or roadshows are not preferred nor sole providers, and procurement or purchase of these would be conducted in accordance with the relevant procurement law obligations, using frameworks relevant to the requirements of the respective contract and/or tender.
This is not an exhaustive list. Given the dynamic nature of the market, and wide availability of products that can be applied to dementia diagnosis among other applications, there might be companies that are new, or recently looking to expand in dementia, that might not have been identified.
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For more information about the Dementia Health Tech Horizon Scan, please get in touch.
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