Objective: To develop further insight into the underlying characteristics of essential tremor using kinematic analysis.

Background: Essential tremor (ET), affecting nearly 1% of the general population, is characterized by high frequency, low amplitude, kinetic and postural tremors. ET is currently a clinical diagnosis, assessed using clinical scales such as the Fahn-Tolosa-Marin (FTM) scale. Kinematic analysis of ET patients can help quantitatively characterize tremors. This study aims to analyze kinematic properties of tremor in ET patients and correlate these findings with clinical ET assessments.

Method: This study is a secondary analysis of data collected for another study on ET. Patients 18 years and older with diagnosed ET were recruited. The participants completed a series of tasks taken from the FTM scale. Outcomes were analyzed both by clinical assessment using the FTM scale, and kinematic analysis via a multi-sensor kinematic unit composed of torsiometers, goniometers, and an accelerometer. Tremor data was collected from the hand, wrist, shoulder, and elbow.

Results: Kinematic data will be analyzed to determine the relative contribution to the overall tremor from each muscle group during each task across patients. This will determine the anatomical location(s) of tremor dominance for each patient, as well as task-dependent variability of this dominance. This data will be assessed to identify the tremor characteristics that most strongly correlated out clinical FTM scores. Using kinematic analysis, we will feature extract subpopulations of patients based on proximal and distal tremor dominance using component analysis.

Conclusion: Conclusions from this secondary analysis will be valuable in quantitatively characterizing the kinematics of ET. Correlating this kinematic data with FTM scores from the same patients can also help elucidate the specific factors that primarily determine clinical diagnosis and severity assessment in ET. Additionally, ET is treated with an array of localized modalities including Botox injections and assistive technologies, as well as systemic modalities like oral medication and deep brain stimulation. Characterization of ET by tremor-dominant location and complexity can direct individualized management plans tailored to a patient’s unique tremor characteristics.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/kinematic-analysis-of-tremor-characteristics-in-patients-with-essential-tremor/