MOTIONLOGGER-AN AMBULATORY MONITOR FOR TREMOR

THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO CREATE A MINIATURE, SOLID-STATE DEVICE THAT CAN MONITOR, ON A CONTINUOUS, LONG-TERM BASIS, THE MOTOR ACTIVITY OF PARKINSON'S DISEASE. THE MONITORING OF MOTOR ACTIVITY CONTINUOUSLY FOR 6 DAYS WILL PROVIDE INFORMATION REGARDING THE PATIENT'S ACTIVITY LEVELS; THE DURATION AND EFFECTIVENESS OF VARIOUS TREATMENT REGIMENS; THE FREQUENCY, DURATION, AND TIME OF OCCURRENCE OFON/OFF EPISODES; AND THE SLEEP PATTERNS AND AWAKENINGS. THERECORDING WILL BE CORRELATED WITH THE PATIENT'S DIARY. IT IS PLANNED TO DEVELOP THE CRITERIA FOR A SOLID-STATE DEVICE AND ASSEMBLE A PROTOTYPE AND TEST IT FOR CLINICAL USEFULNESS. TO ACHIEVE THESE AIMS, REFERENCE METHODS IN CLINICAL USE AND MULTICHANNEL, AMBULATORY CASSETTE TAPE RECORDERS (HOLTER TYPE) WILL BE EQUIPPED WITH HIGH-FIDELITY TRIAXIAL ACCELEROMETER TO ESTABLISH A STANDARD. THE DATA WILL BE ANALYZED WITH A FFT PROGRAM AND DISPLAYED AND COMPARED WITH DATA OBTAINED FROM A WRIST ACTIGRAPH. THE ACTIGRAPH WILL BE OPTIMIZED WITH A TRANSDUCER AND FILTER SELECTION TO MEET THE CLINICAL CRITERIA. PATIENTS AND NORMAL, MATCHED CONTROLS WILL BE RECORDED AND STUDIED. IN PHASE II, A NUMBER OF MOTOR ACTIVITY ACTIGRAPHS WILL BE PRODUCED AND TESTED ON A LARGE PATIENT POPULATION, AND THE SOFTWARE WILL BE DEVELOPED FOR A CLINICAL REPORT SUMMARIZINGTHE DATA COLLECTED.