If our stroke medical professionals can't see the usefulness of wearable tech for objectively monitoring movements post-stroke then we have blithering idiots in charge. But then with doctors writing E.T.(Evaluate and Treat) prescriptions they have already proven they know nothing about stroke rehab. We have idiots in charge, hope you are happy with that.
How Wearable Tech Could Enhance Alzheimer's Research
The path to developing treatments for neurodegenerative disorders hasn’t been an easy one
Over the past few months, a number of pharmaceutical companies reported that promising drug candidates for Alzheimer’s came up short in late-stage studies. Prominent contenders from Eli Lilly and Merck were unable to slow or reverse mental decline in patients diagnosed with a mild to moderate forms of the condition.
The complexity of this disease has made it difficult to discern the best avenue to create an effective treatment, especially since symptoms arrive in different variations and forms.
One researcher, though, is working on an innovative study that could yield important markers signaling the early onset of Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Rhoda Au, Ph.D., a neuropsychologist and professor at Boston University’s School of Medicine and School of Public Health, is running an e-cognitive health initiative called the, "Precision Monitoring of Preclinical Alzheimer's Disease: Framingham Study of Cognitive Epidemiology.”
The goal of this study is to use wearable devices and other technology to collect large troves of data from participants over time, in an effort to pinpoint potential physical changes that could be associated with cognitive decline. About 2,200 people will be participating in this venture beginning in April 2017 with a projected end date of sometime in 2020.
This investigation is different than other trials evaluating experimental drugs for the condition.
“We’re testing a lot of people who are not exhibiting traces of the disease,” Au said in an exclusive interview with R&D Magazine.
Some of the metrics being used in this endeavor will monitor biological signs like sleep, balance, and heart rate.
Au’s team has collected over 75,000 voice recordings since 2005 to monitor voice biomarkers that could potentially show changes in speech patterns. The researchers also started giving digital pens to participants in 2013 to aggregate information on changes in writing performance.
“We have been collecting sleep information through a device by Sleep Image since 2015, which is an EKG-based home sleep monitoring device. Over 900 participants have agreed to use it so far. Starting in April we will start to use DANA – a smartphone cognitive application created by Anthrotronix to measure cognitive performance in the home," elaborated Au.
This approach provides the investigators the ability to track performance in real time without boxing people in to certain criterion, which could lead to a better continuum of performance.
This program is part of a growing field called Precision Health, which focuses on medical organizations and health providers using a mix of data and healthcare analytics to enhance health outcomes for patients by creating better care and lowering the risk of readmissions.
Other companies are using a similar approach to enhance research on complex disorders. Teva Pharmaceuticals and Intel struck a collaboration geared towards using a combination of wearable devices and software to continuously track functioning and movement in patients diagnosed with Huntington’s disease. The goal is to get a better understanding of the severity of motor symptoms since the current crop of drugs for this disease tend to only help moderate symptoms.
A number of private partners have contributed to this program, helping Au achieve these goals. Elevation Health, IBM Watson and Pfizer are some of the companies taking part in this venture.
Au elaborated that private funding has really helped explore this research, as it’s not the type of science that typically receives funding from organizations like the National Institute of Health.
“Private industry can enable a different kind of science by offering equipment along with financial and professional resources not in the academic environment,” added Au.
Next, the researchers will implement a number of small global pilot studies incorporating more devices into the experiment in order to ensure data integrity.
“The study is a good start to see how these digital technologies can track changes by teasing out different subtypes and improving predictions,” said Au. “Catching it earlier enough with this technology could expand capacity to find changes in the normal realm for interventions.”
Over the past few months, a number of pharmaceutical companies reported that promising drug candidates for Alzheimer’s came up short in late-stage studies. Prominent contenders from Eli Lilly and Merck were unable to slow or reverse mental decline in patients diagnosed with a mild to moderate forms of the condition.
The complexity of this disease has made it difficult to discern the best avenue to create an effective treatment, especially since symptoms arrive in different variations and forms.
One researcher, though, is working on an innovative study that could yield important markers signaling the early onset of Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Rhoda Au, Ph.D., a neuropsychologist and professor at Boston University’s School of Medicine and School of Public Health, is running an e-cognitive health initiative called the, "Precision Monitoring of Preclinical Alzheimer's Disease: Framingham Study of Cognitive Epidemiology.”
The goal of this study is to use wearable devices and other technology to collect large troves of data from participants over time, in an effort to pinpoint potential physical changes that could be associated with cognitive decline. About 2,200 people will be participating in this venture beginning in April 2017 with a projected end date of sometime in 2020.
This investigation is different than other trials evaluating experimental drugs for the condition.
“We’re testing a lot of people who are not exhibiting traces of the disease,” Au said in an exclusive interview with R&D Magazine.
Some of the metrics being used in this endeavor will monitor biological signs like sleep, balance, and heart rate.
Au’s team has collected over 75,000 voice recordings since 2005 to monitor voice biomarkers that could potentially show changes in speech patterns. The researchers also started giving digital pens to participants in 2013 to aggregate information on changes in writing performance.
“We have been collecting sleep information through a device by Sleep Image since 2015, which is an EKG-based home sleep monitoring device. Over 900 participants have agreed to use it so far. Starting in April we will start to use DANA – a smartphone cognitive application created by Anthrotronix to measure cognitive performance in the home," elaborated Au.
This approach provides the investigators the ability to track performance in real time without boxing people in to certain criterion, which could lead to a better continuum of performance.
This program is part of a growing field called Precision Health, which focuses on medical organizations and health providers using a mix of data and healthcare analytics to enhance health outcomes for patients by creating better care and lowering the risk of readmissions.
Other companies are using a similar approach to enhance research on complex disorders. Teva Pharmaceuticals and Intel struck a collaboration geared towards using a combination of wearable devices and software to continuously track functioning and movement in patients diagnosed with Huntington’s disease. The goal is to get a better understanding of the severity of motor symptoms since the current crop of drugs for this disease tend to only help moderate symptoms.
A number of private partners have contributed to this program, helping Au achieve these goals. Elevation Health, IBM Watson and Pfizer are some of the companies taking part in this venture.
Au elaborated that private funding has really helped explore this research, as it’s not the type of science that typically receives funding from organizations like the National Institute of Health.
“Private industry can enable a different kind of science by offering equipment along with financial and professional resources not in the academic environment,” added Au.
Next, the researchers will implement a number of small global pilot studies incorporating more devices into the experiment in order to ensure data integrity.
“The study is a good start to see how these digital technologies can track changes by teasing out different subtypes and improving predictions,” said Au. “Catching it earlier enough with this technology could expand capacity to find changes in the normal realm for interventions.”
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