Cincinnati-based Clarigent Health is developing an artificial-intelligence tool to prevent suicide in children and adolescents. The tool uses machine learning to identify vocal biomarkers in at-risk youth to provide early intervention options. The work is a collaboration between Clarigent and the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.

The rate of suicide has tripled among children in the past decade and is the second leading cause of death in the US among people ages 10 to 34. Clarigent’s tool listens for absolutist words, certain pronouns, aggression, violence, and the pace, breathiness, and inflection of speech. It has been validated in four clinical trials and is currently undergoing a study of 2,000 students.