Biomarkers
Sentinel extracts speech biomarkers from voice audio through specialized models. Each model targets different aspects of mental and physical state, with varying levels of clinical validation.
Biomarker Models
Apollo — Clinical Mental Health
Production Clinical Grade
Domains: Clinical, Mental Health, Employee Wellness, Education, Coaching
Disorder probabilities and symptom-level severities, validated against clinical gold standards. Published in Nature Portfolio.
Disorder Probabilities:
| Biomarker | Description | Range | Use Cases |
|---|---|---|---|
depression_probability |
Likelihood of depression | 0-1 | Mental health screening, employee wellness, student support |
anxiety_probability |
Likelihood of anxiety disorder | 0-1 | Test prep, public speaking, sales calls, interviews |
Depression Indicators (PHQ-9 aligned): Clinical Grade
| Biomarker | Description | Range | Beyond Clinical Use |
|---|---|---|---|
anhedonia |
Loss of interest/pleasure | 0-1 | Employee engagement, coaching motivation |
low_mood |
Depressed mood | 0-1 | Wellness monitoring, student mental health |
sleep_issues |
Sleep disturbance | 0-1 | Fatigue risk, shift worker wellness |
low_energy |
Fatigue/loss of energy | 0-1 | Workplace safety, sports performance |
appetite |
Appetite changes | 0-1 | Health screening, wellness programs |
worthlessness |
Feelings of worthlessness | 0-1 | Coaching, leadership development |
concentration |
Difficulty concentrating | 0-1 | Education, workplace productivity |
psychomotor |
Psychomotor changes | 0-1 | Clinical assessment |
Anxiety Indicators (GAD-7 aligned): Clinical Grade
| Biomarker | Description | Range | Beyond Clinical Use |
|---|---|---|---|
nervousness |
Feeling nervous/anxious | 0-1 | Presentations, interviews, sales calls |
uncontrollable_worry |
Can't stop worrying | 0-1 | Stress monitoring, coaching |
excessive_worry |
Worrying too much | 0-1 | Employee wellness, education |
trouble_relaxing |
Difficulty relaxing | 0-1 | Burnout detection, wellness |
restlessness |
Restless/on edge | 0-1 | Meeting engagement, education |
irritability |
Easily annoyed | 0-1 | Contact centers, customer experience, escalation prediction |
dread |
Sense of impending doom | 0-1 | Crisis detection, mental health |
Helios — Wellness Indicators
Production
Domains: Wellness, Workplace, Contact Centers, Education, Coaching, HR
General wellness scores derived from voice characteristics. Uses similar technology to Apollo. Research published at Interspeech 2025.
| Biomarker | Description | Range | Use Cases |
|---|---|---|---|
distress |
Overall psychological distress | 0-1 | Crisis detection, customer experience, employee wellness |
stress |
Acute stress level | 0-1 | Contact centers, workplace, coaching, sports performance |
burnout |
Chronic exhaustion indicators | 0-1 | HR/retention, education, healthcare workers |
fatigue |
Physical and mental tiredness | 0-1 | Shift work safety, transportation, healthcare |
low_self_esteem |
Self-worth indicators | 0-1 | Coaching, education, leadership development |
Psyche — Real-Time Affect
Beta
Domains: All (real-time emotion tracking)
Moment-to-moment emotional state from voice. Updates every ~5 seconds, providing real-time signal for live applications.
| Biomarker | Description | Range | Use Cases |
|---|---|---|---|
neutral |
Flat/neutral affect | 0-1 | Baseline reference |
happy |
Joy/happiness | 0-1 | Engagement, satisfaction, coaching success |
sad |
Sadness | 0-1 | Customer experience, mental health |
angry |
Anger/frustration | 0-1 | Contact center escalation, conflict detection |
fearful |
Fear/anxiety in voice | 0-1 | Education anxiety, crisis detection |
disgusted |
Disgust | 0-1 | Content reaction |
surprised |
Surprise | 0-1 | Context-dependent |
Focus — Attention Tracking
Coming Soon
Domains: Education, Workplace, ADHD Support, Gaming
Attention and focus metrics calibrated for ADHD-aware applications.
| Biomarker | Description | Range | Use Cases |
|---|---|---|---|
focus |
Overall focus level | 0-1 | Education, workplace productivity |
attention |
Sustained attention | 0-1 | Learning, meeting engagement |
distractibility |
Distraction indicator | 0-1 | ADHD support, driving safety |
Diabetes Type 2 Screening
Coming Soon
Domains: Healthcare, Telehealth, Wellness Programs
Voice-based screening indicator for Type 2 diabetes risk.
COPD Screening
Coming Soon
Domains: Healthcare, Telehealth, Respiratory Health
Voice-based screening indicator for COPD.
Configuration
Specify which biomarker models to enable:
Processing Requirements
Different biomarkers require different amounts of speech data. Psyche provides results fastest (~5s), followed by Helios (~10s), with Apollo requiring more speech (~20s) for accurate predictions. These thresholds may vary based on your policy configuration.
Progress Updates
Track biomarker collection progress:
@sentinel.on_progress
def handle_progress(result):
for name, status in result["biomarkers"].items():
collected = status["speech_seconds"]
required = status["trigger_seconds"]
pct = (collected / required) * 100
print(f"{name}: {pct:.0f}%")
Validation
Apollo biomarkers are clinical-grade, validated against gold-standard clinical assessments. See the Nature Portfolio publication for validation methodology and results.
Helios wellness biomarkers use similar underlying technology. See the Interspeech 2025 paper for research details.
Clinical-grade means rigorous validation—but the biomarkers are useful far beyond clinical settings: employee wellness, education, customer experience, and anywhere voice reveals what words don't say.