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The system will automatically regulate the delivery of medication to users
Researchers design first wearable monitoring system for Parkinson’s patients
REMPARK is a European telemedicine project with a budget of €4.73 million. Participants include the Teknon Medical Centre, Telefónica R&D, the European Parkinson’s Disease Association, and a number of research centres and companies based in Germany, Portugal, Italy, Israel, Ireland, Sweden and Belgium.
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17/07/2012
Parkinson’s disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer’s disease. The Technical Research Centre for Dependency, Care and Autonomous Living (CETpD) of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · BarcelonaTech (UPC) is developing a pioneering device—a wearable monitoring and actuation system that identifies the motor status of Parkinson’s patients in real time. The system will also determine what phase a patient is in while walking or performing everyday activities and provide a cue to initiate movement when a gait-freezing episode occurs. The project, known as REMPARK (Personal Health Device for the Remote and Autonomous Management of Parkinson’s Disease), is led by the CETpD and has a budget of €4.73 million. Its aim is to improve the quality of life of Parkinson’s patients.
REMPARK’s overall objective is to identify and quantify with high reliability the situations that are most incapacitating for patients in their everyday lives, and intervene (always under medical supervision) in the least invasive and most effective way possible.
In addition to the UPC, participants in the project include the Teknon Medical Centre, Telefónica R&D, the European Parkinson’s Disease Association, and a number of research centres and companies based in Germany, Portugal, Italy, Israel, Ireland, Sweden and Belgium. For the first time in Europe, researchers will work exclusively with outpatient data. The system will be tested on a hundred patients in their homes rather than in the laboratory. Volunteers are currently being recruited in Spain, Italy, Ireland and Israel.
REMPARK consists of two elements: a bracelet equipped with a sensor for measuring tremor in patients, and an inertial system worn at the waist on a belt made of biocompatible material. The second part of the device, which is the size of a mobile phone, is equipped with a set of sensors and is able to process and wirelessly transmit the data collected. The system detects symptomatic parameters of the disease and determines what phase the patient is in from one moment to the next (on-off phenomena, freezing and other disorders associated with the disease).
On-off phenomena are fluctuations in a patient’s motor status over the day. They are unpredictable and vary in length. Patients alternate between periods with no symptoms (“on” phases, when they are under the effect of medication) and periods when symptoms—difficulty walking, slowness of movement and even freezing of gait—reappear (“off” phases, which usually occur when the patient is receiving little or no medication).
Freezing occurs when a patient becomes completely immobile when starting to walk. Onset is sudden and episodes can last from a few seconds to several minutes.
When the project reaches its second level, the REMPARK system will include a central server where all the data from patients will be stored, processed and analysed to determine how each individual is progressing. It will also act as an intelligent system to support decision making by the supervising medical team.
The project, which will run until 2015, will deliver medical, social and economic benefits. It will reduce the number of hospitalisations and improve disease management and the treatment and rehabilitation of patients. The device will contribute to improving the European health system by providing better quality, more personalised care for Parkinson’s patients and facilitating more sustainable use of public funds.
Early work, carried out within the framework of a project entitled “Monitoring the Mobility of Parkinson’s Patients for Therapeutic Purposes” (MOMOPA), was aimed at detecting the motor status of patients using inertial systems. The second project the group has participated in, Home-based Empowered Living for Parkinson’s Disease Patients (HELP), coordinated by Telefónica R&D, focuses on improving the algorithms developed and carrying out the first real-time performance test. Researchers involved in the project are also working for the first time on regulating drug delivery via a subcutaneous pump, based on patient mobility (always under medical supervision).
To download images and video footage: ftp://media.upc.edu/Rempark
REMPARK’s overall objective is to identify and quantify with high reliability the situations that are most incapacitating for patients in their everyday lives, and intervene (always under medical supervision) in the least invasive and most effective way possible.
In addition to the UPC, participants in the project include the Teknon Medical Centre, Telefónica R&D, the European Parkinson’s Disease Association, and a number of research centres and companies based in Germany, Portugal, Italy, Israel, Ireland, Sweden and Belgium. For the first time in Europe, researchers will work exclusively with outpatient data. The system will be tested on a hundred patients in their homes rather than in the laboratory. Volunteers are currently being recruited in Spain, Italy, Ireland and Israel.
REMPARK consists of two elements: a bracelet equipped with a sensor for measuring tremor in patients, and an inertial system worn at the waist on a belt made of biocompatible material. The second part of the device, which is the size of a mobile phone, is equipped with a set of sensors and is able to process and wirelessly transmit the data collected. The system detects symptomatic parameters of the disease and determines what phase the patient is in from one moment to the next (on-off phenomena, freezing and other disorders associated with the disease).
On-off phenomena are fluctuations in a patient’s motor status over the day. They are unpredictable and vary in length. Patients alternate between periods with no symptoms (“on” phases, when they are under the effect of medication) and periods when symptoms—difficulty walking, slowness of movement and even freezing of gait—reappear (“off” phases, which usually occur when the patient is receiving little or no medication).
Freezing occurs when a patient becomes completely immobile when starting to walk. Onset is sudden and episodes can last from a few seconds to several minutes.
Sensory cueing devices
The REMPARK system is complemented by an actuation subsystem consisting of auditory, visual or haptic (touch-related) cueing devices, a pump for regulated subcutaneous drug delivery, and a functional electrical stimulation (FES) system. The specific cueing device used (or combination of devices) will depend on the characteristics of each patient. The final element is a mobile phone, which connects the monitoring and actuation systems, provides an interface for medical supervision, and links the system to the data server.When the project reaches its second level, the REMPARK system will include a central server where all the data from patients will be stored, processed and analysed to determine how each individual is progressing. It will also act as an intelligent system to support decision making by the supervising medical team.
The project, which will run until 2015, will deliver medical, social and economic benefits. It will reduce the number of hospitalisations and improve disease management and the treatment and rehabilitation of patients. The device will contribute to improving the European health system by providing better quality, more personalised care for Parkinson’s patients and facilitating more sustainable use of public funds.
Previous experience
The project builds on previous research in this field carried out by the CETpD, which is based at the UPC’s Vilanova i la Geltrú Campus. Since 2008, the Centre has been working on the development of objective systems for measuring the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease and physician-support tools to facilitate more accurate diagnosis of its progression. Systems are based on accelerometers and gyroscopes, which are used to measure movement parameters. Early work, carried out within the framework of a project entitled “Monitoring the Mobility of Parkinson’s Patients for Therapeutic Purposes” (MOMOPA), was aimed at detecting the motor status of patients using inertial systems. The second project the group has participated in, Home-based Empowered Living for Parkinson’s Disease Patients (HELP), coordinated by Telefónica R&D, focuses on improving the algorithms developed and carrying out the first real-time performance test. Researchers involved in the project are also working for the first time on regulating drug delivery via a subcutaneous pump, based on patient mobility (always under medical supervision).
To download images and video footage: ftp://media.upc.edu/Rempark
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