Great Lakes NeuroTechnologies has been awarded a patent for their in-home continuous monitoring system for patients living with Parkinson’s disease. This means that Parkinson’s patients will be able to provide their doctors with real-time highly accurate symptom information from their own homes throughout their day.
The monitoring system enables a continuously worn sensor to detect movement to be worn, algorithms for distinguishing voluntary movement from involuntary movement, and allows for automated scoring of the severity of symptoms correlated to traditional clinician rating scales. Continuous monitoring of Parkinson’s can capture daily fluctuation in disease in ambulatory settings and in patient homes.
However, obtaining continuous assessment using movement sensors provides significant challenges as some activities may interfere with or mimic the actual movement disorder motor symptoms. Intelligent algorithms can differentiate normal movements from Parkinson’s symptoms, as well as rate the severity of symptoms.
“Much of our previous work has focused on remote assessment of Parkinson’s symptoms during specific tasks completed at regular intervals during the day. Patients are able to interact with a touchscreen tablet while wearing a motion sensor and following video instructions.
While the present technology provides high sensitivity measurement during known tasks, more continuous assessment has significant advantages,” says Chris Pulliam, PhD, Senior Biomedical Researcher. “The new technology enables a patient to comfortably wear a sensor and go about their daily life while providing insight on symptoms during normal daily activities.”
For more information, go to www.glneurotech.com.