Feasibility of virtual low-cost quantitative continuous measurement of movements in the extremities of people with Parkinson's disease

Abdelwahab Elshourbagy; Mennatullah Mohamed Eltaras; Hassan Abdalshafy; Samrah Javed; Ahmed Omar Sadaney; Timothy Patrick Harrigan; Kelly Alexander Mills; Manuel Enrique Hernandez; James Robert Brašić

doi:10.1016/j.mex.2023.102230

Feasibility of virtual low-cost quantitative continuous measurement of movements in the extremities of people with Parkinson's disease

MethodsX. 2023 Jun 2:11:102230. doi: 10.1016/j.mex.2023.102230. eCollection 2023 Dec.

Authors

Abdelwahab Elshourbagy¹, Mennatullah Mohamed Eltaras², Hassan Abdalshafy³, Samrah Javed⁴, Ahmed Omar Sadaney³, Timothy Patrick Harrigan⁵, Kelly Alexander Mills⁶, Manuel Enrique Hernandez⁷, James Robert Brašić⁸

Affiliations

¹ Misr University for Science and Technology, Al Motamayez District-6th of October, Giza Governorate 3236101, Egypt.
² Faculty of Medicine for Girls, Al-Azhar University, Cairo Governorate 4434003, Egypt.
³ Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Giza Governorate 12613, Egypt.
⁴ Jinnah Sindh Medical University, Karachi, Sindh 75510, Pakistan.
⁵ Research and Exploratory Development, Applied Physics Laboratory, The Johns Hopkins University, Laurel, MD 20723, United States.
⁶ Department of Neurology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States.
⁷ Carle Health College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, United States.
⁸ Section of High-Resolution Brain Positron Emission Tomography Imaging, Division of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States.

Abstract

A low-cost quantitative continuous measurement of movements in the extremities of people with Parkinson's disease, a structured motor assessment administered by a trained examiner to a patient physically present in the same room, utilizes sensors to generate output to facilitate the evaluation of the patient. However, motor assessments with the patient and the examiner in the same room may not be feasible due to distances between the patient and the examiner and the risk of transmission of infections between the patient and the examiner. Therefore, we propose a protocol for the remote assessment by examiners in different locations of both (A) videos of patients recorded during in-person motor assessments and (B) live virtual assessments of patients in different locations from examiners. The proposed procedure provides a framework for providers, investigators, and patients in vastly diverse locations to conduct optimal motor assessments required to develop treatment plans utilizing precision medicine tailored to the specific needs of each individual patient. The proposed protocol generates the foundation for providers to remotely perform structured motor assessments necessary for optimal diagnosis and treatment of people with Parkinson's disease and related conditions.

Keywords: Accelerometer; Experimental error; Motor assessment; Movement disorders; Online; Rating scales; Structured interviews; Test-retest reliability; Trained raters; Virtual low-cost quantitative continuous measurement of movements in the extremities of people with Parkinson’s disease.; Visual observation.