Toward the development of a cost-effective e-depression detection system

Diagnosis and prevention of depressive disorders at any scale have been attracting considerable attention of the public healthcare in Japan because depression is one of the most rapidly pervasive mental disorders in the country. A major issue that hinders the feasibility of depression screening for its prevention is the availability of some simple and cost-effective methods for depression detection and monitoring. Here in this paper, we present the development of a computerized tool for depression detection. The tool utilizes the theory of chaos and systems complexity to extract robust dynamically statistical features of physiological signals provided by the low-cost technology of photoplethysmography. Prototype of a mobile communication network for the proposed automated depression detection is also presented to illustrate a potential e-mental health system for automated screening and detection of depression, which allows convenient self-assessment and remote clinical management.