The app was designed to be used by patients at home, allowing them to record their own movements – such as by tapping their smartphone screen to assess their speed reflexes, or by placing the phone on their knee to measure tremors.
The data recorded by the phone’s sensors would then be used to calculate the severity of a symptom, using the clinical Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS).
Monitoring a Parkinson’s patient’s progression requires very frequent testing of their motor symptoms, which could be affected by their diet and exercise regime, as well as by social interactions.
The app would enable patients to help researchers collect the data needed to monitor their own symptoms and benefit wider research into the disease.
“The toolkit will help us develop clinical measures that could lead to early identification of problems such as side-effects from medications and individualised patient profiles that help with personalised assessment.