Advancing ALS Research With DHTs: Where Are We Now?

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) stands as a devastating, progressive neuromuscular ailment lacking effective treatments to halt its advancement. Despite substantial investments by researchers and pharmaceutical firms, major programs in 2023 and 2024 have faltered in reaching their primary endpoints, underscoring the necessity for more sensitive assessment methods. Sensor-based digital health technologies (DHTs) offer a promising avenue by capturing continuous and objective data pertaining to the motor function of ALS patients, thereby furnishing intricate insights into disease progression and treatment efficacy.

In this 30-minute webinar, Rakesh Pilkar, Ph.D., and Marcin Straczkiewicz, Ph.D., unveil their latest endeavors in devising innovative metrics to quantify gait and upper limb movement for monitoring ALS progression. Pilkar, Senior Data Scientist at ActiGraph, delves into patient-centric digital measures derived from wrist-worn DHTs, adept at detecting functional decline in ALS and furnishing meaningful gait metrics in real-world scenarios. Meanwhile, Straczkiewicz, from Harvard TH Chan School of Medicine, sheds light on the latest advancements in wrist-worn DHT-derived metrics for upper limb movement, elucidating their clinical significance and utility in tracking ALS progression.