Objective: Evaluate the feasibility of wearable sensors in measuring motor features of individuals with PD, HD, prodromal HD, and controls in clinic and at home.

Background: The Movement Disorder Society Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) and Unified Huntington’s Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS) are the principal means of assessing motor symptoms in PD and HD. However, these assessments are subjective and generally limited to episodic in-person visits. Wearable sensors can objectively and continuously measure motor features and could be valuable in clinical research and care.

Methods: Up to 20 participants each with PD, manifest HD, prodromal HD, and controls wore five accelerometer-based BioStampRC sensors developed by MC10 on the chest and limbs for standardized in-clinic assessments and two days at home. Data collected from individuals with movement disorders was compared to data from individuals without movement disorders to identify abnormal movement and develop predictive algorithms.

Results: As of December 2016, 56 people (16 with PD, 15 with HD, 5 with prodromal HD, 20 controls) have been enrolled. All participants have completed in-clinic assessments and at-home monitoring and none have withdrawn. Participant feedback was positive, with 88% of participants reporting that they were “Willing” or “Very Willing” to wear the sensors again. Preliminary analysis of in-clinic data revealed lack of lower limb coordination while walking in individuals with HD when compared to controls (p = 0.0009). Frequency analysis of PD tremors demonstrated that wearable sensors can detect symptom fluctuation in response to dopaminergic medication (p = 0.002). Analysis of at-home data is underway.

Conclusions: Participant feedback demonstrates that the use of wearable sensors is feasible. Preliminary data analysis suggests that in-clinic and at-home use of these sensors can provide valuable and continuous information on the motor features of HD and PD. While more research is needed, wearable sensors have the potential to improve patient care and outcome measures in clinical research and therapeutic development.

Sponsorship: This study is supported by a gift from MC10 to the University of Rochester.

Citation: Preliminary HD data presented at HSG 2016 Annual Meeting, pending publication in January 2017 issue of Neurotherapeutics

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/evaluating-wearable-sensors-for-objective-measurement-of-motor-features-in-parkinson-disease-and-huntington-disease-a-pilot-study/