April 5, 2012: Valley View, OH – Great Lakes NeuroTechnologies announced today they have launched a multi-site clinical study to assess continuous monitoring of essential tremor (ET) using their Kinesia technology platform. A preliminary study published in 2011 in the journal Parkinsonism and Related Disorders demonstrated that patient-worn motion sensors could detect tremor type and quantify tremor severity during both standardized tasks and non-standardized activities of daily living performed in a laboratory. Now the company is expanding those results to sixty subjects with ET as they go about their daily lives in their homes. The study, which is funded by the National Institutes of Health, is being conducted in partnership with Dr. Christopher Goetz of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois and Dr. Joseph Jankovic of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.
Essential tremor is one of the most common movement disorders, affecting 10 million people in the United States. ET is characterized primarily by postural and action tremors of the limbs and is typically evaluated using various subjective tremor rating scales. These scales require a clinician to visually assess the patient and provide a tremor severity rating at a discrete point in time. Furthermore, they cannot capture fluctuations that may occur during specific activities throughout the day in the home environment. The Kinesia technology will provide a new tool for monitoring ET using a ring-like motion sensor unit to capture symptoms, adaptive algorithms to continuously classify tremor type and rate severity during activities of daily living, and web-based access to tremor response reports.
“The technology being validated in these clinical studies should have an important impact for individuals with essential tremor,” described Dustin A. Heldman, PhD, principal investigator on the program. “Capturing tremor during the activities that impact patient quality of life most will enable clinicians to optimize therapy for each patient’s specific needs. Additionally, this type of telemedicine technology can have important benefits for patients who do not live in close proximity to a movement disorder specialist.”
This clinical study is funded by a Phase II SBIR Grant from the National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging: 2R44AG034708-02.
About Great Lakes NeuroTechnologies
Great Lakes NeuroTechnologies is committed to pioneering innovative biomedical technologies to serve research, education, and medical communities, improving access to medical technology for diverse populations, and positively impacting quality of life for people around the world.
Media Contact
Amelia Earhart, Marketing Manager 216-446-2431 aaearhart@GLNeuroTech.com