Objective: To characterize motor function of patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) using a multi-sensor wearable digital device.

Background: Progression of PD varies widely from patient to patient and it has not been possible for researchers to capture a truly accurate picture of the diverse day-to-day experiences of people with PD. Wearable devices can supplement and enhance the information available to the clinician, providing continuous measurement and quantitative data. The Study Watch (Verily Life Sciences LLC, CA, USA) is a miniaturized wearable physiological data monitoring device containing various sensors to measure physiological and environmental metrics.

Method: SWJ-001 is a longitudinal, prospective, observational study. Subjects were recruited on the basis of the diagnosis of PD with at least 5 years of history, current treatment with levodopa, suffering wearing off and planned clinical need for in-patient hospitalization to monitor motor function with or without adjustment of medication or other treatments for PD. Each subject was asked to complete questionnaires about their motor function and quality of life, was trained on the use of the Study Watch and was instructed to wear it for about 23 hours per day for up to 2 months at home before and after hospitalization and at least 5 days during hospitalization. Subjects were asked to mark when they took their levodopa medication by pressing a button on the Study Watch and to perform seven simple, standardized motor tasks twice a day at home and a number of times specified in the protocol during the hospital stay. Neurologists performed motor assessments during hospitalization when the subject was under the current levodopa treatment, during the withdrawal from the current levodopa treatment, during the levodopa challenge test and after the beginning of the new treatment regimen determined as part of standard clinical care.

Results: The study began in July 2019.

Conclusion: This study is expected to provide an opportunity to collect contemporaneously standardized neurologist assessments and patient-reported assessments of symptoms and function with digital signals from the Study Watch. By also collecting Study Watch data in the free-living setting prior to and after hospitalization, this will allow an analysis of the utility of home-based data.

« Back to MDS Virtual Congress 2020

MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/an-observational-study-for-the-application-of-wearable-multi-sensor-technology-to-characterize-motor-function-of-parkinsons-disease-patients-in-japan-swj-001-an-innovative-protocol/