| People who have had heart tests will be familiar with the wearable devices that are provided to them to observe their heart's performance over the course of a day. Following on from our earlier research into the auditory brainstem response of people with Parkinson's Disease, we felt that the research could be extended to provide an analogous monitoring device to map the mobility of patients and their medication effectiveness over the course of a day. In our earlier research into the Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) characteristics of people with Parkinson's Disease, we observed a strong correlation between a person's auditory brainstem response and the severity of their Parkinsonian symptoms (or their medication level effectiveness). In order to examine the efficacy of ABR as a means of quickly and quanitatively assessing the mobility and effectiveness of medication in people with PD, it is necessary to develop an ABR system that can be worn by a patient over the course of a day. In this Doctoral research, we are seeking to devleop a small processing system (the size of a personal organiser) that can be worn on a belt in a similar way to heart monitoring devices. A Parkinson's patient will be fitted with wireless electrodes on the scalp and a wireless earpiece. The earpiece will subject the patient to clicking sounds and the electrodes will transmit information back to the monitoring processor. When a patient takes medication (such as Levodopa), he/she will press a button on the processing device and this will time-stamp recordings. After a day's wear, a patient will return the device to a doctor who will be able to get a profile of mobility as a function of time and medication level. Researcher: Elie Orfali Click here to read about the original Parkinson's Study Click here to read the results of the initial PD Study Click here to read about the difficulties people with PD have in accessing services |
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| Wearable Auditory Brainstem Response Monitor for People with Parkinson's Disease |