Portable Device Enables At-home Monitoring Of Parkinson’s Disease Symptoms

The number of group surviving pinch Parkinson's illness globally has doubled successful nan past 25 years.

Yet nan curen and monitoring of nan neurological illness seems galore decades behind. Clinicians typically gauge nan severity of nan illness utilizing subjective standing scales, and a shortage of doctors trained to dainty Parkinson's intends that group tin spell months - aliases years - betwixt session visits.

This leaves patients successful a troubling spot, often unsure really quickly their illness is progressing and whether they are responding appropriately to medications.

Now, Stanford Medicine researchers person developed a simple, portable instrumentality paired pinch a smartphone-connected level that patients tin usage astatine location to measurement nan severity of their Parkinson's illness symptoms successful a quantitative and reproducible way. It translates mini specifications astir digit presses into information that clinicians tin usage to guideline Parkinson's treatments remotely.

Results of a study published online Aug. 12, 2025, in Nature confirm nan inferior of this caller technology. Study participants, who were Parkinson's illness patients, showed beardown compliance, indicating nan easiness of usage of nan apparatus. And information transmitted by nan instrumentality to nan researchers was accordant pinch that obtained via traditional, much physician- and visit-intensive methods, likewise gauging participants' denotation position and illness progression.

Helen Bronte-Stewart, MD, nan John E. Cahill Family Professor and a professor of neurology and neurosciences, led nan work, which received backing to further create nan exertion from a bid of awards - a Neuroscience: Translate grant from nan Wu Tsai Neuroscience Institute, a placement successful the Fogarty Innovation program and a Stanford Medicine Catalyst award.

We asked her much astir really these technological advancements - made up of a integer level called Quantitative DigitoGraphy Care and a mini instrumentality called a KeyDuo - could alteration nan crippled for patients and clinicians. This question and reply has been edited for clarity and length.

What are nan existent challenges pinch monitoring Parkinson's illness progression?

Until now, we've relied connected in-person exams to show Parkinson's. Tremors and bradykinesia - nan slowness of movements we spot successful Parkinson's - are classed connected a objective standing standard that is somewhat subjective. Rigidity aliases stiffness is gauged by nan examiner passively rotating a person's joints to picture their tone.

In studies, nan Parkinson's exam is usually videotaped, and an extracurricular reviewer watches nan portion to minimize variability successful these ratings. But that intends they instantly suffer each nan information that you get from physically rubbing a diligent and emotion their joints. For a agelong clip location has been this immense unmet request for clinicians to person high-resolution metrics connected Parkinson's.

On apical of those method challenges, we cognize that only astir 40% of patients pinch Parkinson's ever spot a neurologist, and galore of those spell months betwixt appointments. It is desperately difficult for group to get care, and they are often near to fend for themselves and negociate their ain medications.

Only fellowship-trained activity upset specialists - who dress up 0.14% of physicians - person in-depth training pinch nan objective standing standard utilized to measure Parkinson's centrifugal symptoms. The proviso of physicians who consciousness comfortable managing nan information is very small. In addition, objective tests successful Parkinson's are hampered without objective, precise measurements, which has crippled nan pipeline of caller therapeutics.

For glucosuria patients, we now person these awesome ways of monitoring glucose levels truthful they cognize precisely really overmuch medicine they request to return and when. We request nan aforesaid point for Parkinson's disease.

Where did nan thought for a tactile measuring instrumentality travel from?

I was moving a session for performing artists pinch dystonia - a musculus upset that musicians tin create that interferes pinch their expertise to play. We had put together a computerized keyboard truthful we could measurement their symptoms, and we happened to person a pianist pinch Parkinson's illness effort it. He did nan trial 1 time while he was connected his Parkinson's medications and 1 time erstwhile he was disconnected his medications, and we realized we could show nan quality based connected nan keyboard data.

The captious quality betwixt this instrumentality and different keyboards is that we person tension-engineered levers - we're not conscionable measuring a azygous pat of nan lever, but we tin observe really difficult personification is pressing, nan velocity nan lever moves astatine and precisely really acold down it moves.

As we started moving pinch much Parkinson's patients, we realized that pinch conscionable 2 levers we could measurement nan rigidity of a person's joints, which had ne'er been done without an successful personification information before. They do repetitive alternating digit tapping connected nan levers for 30 seconds, and nan instrumentality creates a high-resolution centrifugal outcomes appraisal successful existent clip for nan expert to position and make treatment-adjusting decisions.

A diligent tin enactment astatine location for monitoring?

Yes, and nan diligent tin return nan instrumentality pinch them wherever they go. It's ray and fits successful nan thenar of nan hand. It's paired pinch a mobile app connected a smartphone aliases tablet, truthful nan trial tin beryllium done anywhere, anytime, and nan results will beryllium transmitted to nan prescribing wellness attraction supplier successful existent time.

What has your caller investigation shown connected this?

In our first caller paper in June we described nan afloat group of devices that encompasses nan exertion and connects it to physics aesculapian grounds systems. We followed nan first 8 patients who utilized nan afloat strategy astatine location for 30 days, testing their symptoms doubly per day, and showed that we could summation insights into really their symptoms changed successful consequence to medications, some wrong a fixed time and complete nan people of days to weeks.

In the more caller paper from August we showed that our instrumentality could besides observe involuntary tremors associated pinch Parkinson's disease. This is thing that has been incredibly difficult to seizure successful nan past, moreover successful objective exams. But our group utilized statistical modeling to show that some nan timing and amplitude of lever pushes connected nan instrumentality could place tremors, pinch a sensitivity of 98%.

Could this thief standardize results and amended diligent care?

The results pinch this are nonsubjective and validated, and they get astir nan variability of nan subjective standing standard aliases evaluation. The instrumentality besides allows a expert to amended negociate patients betwixt infrequent in-person visits - and it creates a rich | group of information points for a expert to measure centrifugal outcomes and imaginable trends. Patients abruptly person much predominant interactions pinch their supplier by utilizing this instrumentality remotely.

We dream that this benignant of continuous centrifugal monitoring strategy tin person akin effects arsenic continuous glucose monitoring has had for diabetes. It will let group to negociate their medicines much cautiously and let wellness attraction providers to look aft group betwixt these uncommon visits. For superior attraction physicians, who often don't cognize really to behaviour a classical Parkinson's exam and don't consciousness comfortable monitoring group pinch Parkinson's, it could springiness them nan information they request to amended their skills.

This benignant of instrumentality could besides let researchers to study caller Parkinson's drugs. You'll beryllium capable to get information for an early-stage therapeutic successful overmuch little time, pinch less participants and astatine reduced cost. That's successful portion because it will truthful overmuch easier to enlistee patients - you tin nonstop them a instrumentality alternatively of requiring tons of visits to specialized centers - and successful portion because these higher-resolution metrics will make it clearer whether a therapeutic is working.