The resulting paper, “HEAR-MHE Study: Automated Speech Analysis Identifies Minimal Hepatic Encephalopathy and May Predict Future Overt Hepatic Encephalopathy” was published in Hepatology.

Hepatic encephalopathy, a brain dysfunction caused by the liver’s failure to filter toxins out of blood, often affects quality of life in patients with cirrhosis.

Minimal hepatic encephalopathy, a more subtle form of the condition, can portend overt hepatic encephalopathy, which can lead to complications such as comas. Minimal hepatic encephalopathy can lead to confusion, sleep disturbance and personality changes, among other symptoms.

Despite its effects on quality of life, however, the minimal version can be hard to detect.