Michael Phelps, the most decorated athlete in Olympic history, has joined the board of an Australian-listed medical technology company that has developed a test for depression.
Medibio announced on Monday that the American swimmer, who retired from competition in 2016 with a haul of 28 Olympic medals, is one of its newly appointed directors.
The swim star said he has used Mediobo's technology - which analyses biomarkers including heart rate, body clock, and autonomic nervous system - to detect and help manage mental health disorders.
Mr Phelps says he believes the technology can make a profound impact in diagnosing mental health issues and empowering people to seek help.
"In sports, there is so much focus on the physical aspects of performance and athletes are analysed from head to toe," Mr Phelps said in a statement.
"But for many athletes, mental health has not been a topic of focus, and the data analysis aspect of it has been missing up until now."
Mr Phelps said he had faced mental health challenges since he was a teenager but only recently got treatment and support after becoming desperate.
Medibio chief executive Jack Cosentino said Mr Phelps was a champion of the mental health community, citing his roles as honorary chairman of National Mental Health Awareness Day in the US, and as ambassador for the Child Mind Institute's #MyYoungerSelf social media campaign.
The company's technology is based on 15 years of research at the University of Western Australia, while test and clinical studies continue at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the University of Ottawa.
Medibio said regulatory approvals were on track and the focus was to progress to commercialisation.
Shares in the company were up 1.5 cents, or five per cent, to 31.5 cents by 1440 AEST.
