iWEAR

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iWEAR: Integrating wearable technologies to quantify meaningful activity in Huntington's disease

Employing more sensitive monitoring approaches to quantitatively measure physical activity and functional ability is important for assessment in patients with neurological conditions. Developments in wearable remote monitoring sensors and systems have excellent potential to provide a broader understanding of physical activity behaviors. The NRL collaborated with researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (Dr. Karen Marder and Dr. Ashwini Rao), Cardiff University in Cardiff, UK (Professor Monica Busse, Professor Anne Rosser, Mr. Vince Poile), Tel Aviv University in Israel, (Dr. Tanya Gurevich, Ms. Noit Inbar, Professor Jeffrey Hausdorff), and George Huntington Institute in Munster, Germany (Dr. Ralf Reilmann and Dr. Lisa Muratori), to conduct a multi-site study funded by the Jacques and Gloria Gossweiler Foundation.  In this cross-sectional study, we evaluated the feasibility, acceptability, and utility of wearable activity monitors in people with early-mid stage HD, with the ultimate goal of developing phenotype classifications based on performance of functional activities (in a controlled setting) and community-based physical activity (7 day home monitoring). We utilized data from both the activity monitors and body sensors, in combination with clinical assessments, to study dominant clinical presentations and explore possible phenotypic classifications in HD. This study supports the development of successful best practices for the design and planning of studies that utilize wearable activity monitoring devices in the future.

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