Apple also announced an app developed with the Michael J. Fox Foundation to study Parkinson’s disease specifically. Cleveland, Ohio-based Great Lakes Neurotechnologies released a technology on March 16 to provide continuous mobile assessment of Parkinson’s disease, called Kinesia 360. GLNT discussed the pros and cons of wearables in research in a news release.
Here are five things to know about wearables in Parkinson’s disease research.
1. Capturing phenomena: Having a 24/7 data tracking model is difficult in many studies, particularly in movement disorders, because patients because patients can’t continuously be monitored using traditional setups. Wearables such as smart watches and wireless sensors allow patients to wear them much more and capture erratic movement patterns, called dyskinesias, in daily life.
2. Non-clinical actions: During clinical evaluations, physicians evaluate motor symptoms using specific tasks such as holding out arms, tapping fingers or tapping toes. However, those are not actions that describe everything that people do every day. Wearables allow researchers to collect data on Parkinson’s patients as they live their lives and potentially discover new information about patients’ everyday erratic movement patterns.
3. Sensitivity: Motion sensors are common in most wearables, and while they can detect fine movements such as walking and running, they are not sensitive enough to detect subtle movements in Parkinson’s patients.
4. Ease of data collection: The data are wirelessly transmitted from wearables to a server managed by the wearable distributor. That data can then be synthesized through partnerships with medical research companies to draw research results. A study conducted by Biogen Idec and PatientsLikeMe used data collected through FitBit motion sensors to study multiple sclerosis. Although the study ultimately determined that finer motion sensors were needed to study the disease, it still drew a conclusion through the data provided through wearables.
5. Broader enrollment: Apple has seen vast enrollment very quickly through its smart watch software ResearchKit. Patients are more likely to be more compliant with a study through devices such as smart watches and wristbands than a study where they must wear 100 sensors, according to the news release.
