Digital Biomarkers In Movement Disorders

Researchers in movement disorders are getting closer to reaching the ultimate goal: treatment that modifies disease progression by targeting the pathophysiological mechanisms that cause the disease. Currently, the assessments used to diagnose and stage movement disorders in clinical trials and clinical practice for symptomatic treatments are clinician-administered. However, healthcare researchers are pushing for a shift from subjectivity to more sensitive assessments that are easier to administer.

To do this, clinicians need sensitive measures to assess their efficacy. Currently, the imaging and fluid biomarkers used to gauge the effect of investigative treatments on disease pathophysiology in movement disorders are costly, often invasive, and time-consuming. Therefore, it is hard to imagine their use in routine clinical practice as clinicians work to select the best treatment based on patient profile and then closely monitor progression.

Not all is lost, however. Researchers believe that using digital biomarkers can potentially be designed to have ample statistical power with fewer patients. Such breakthroughs can’t come too soon for patients with debilitating and often devastating central nervous system diseases.

Dive into this whitepaper, where innovative technologies are observed for their ability to provide evidence of disease status, progression, and treatment response for clinical development and medical practice.