Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd
Blue Sky Offices Shoreham, 25 Cecil Pashley Way, Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, BN43 5FF, UNITED KINGDOM
Tel: +44 (0)1273 434 943
Email: [email protected]
NICE has conditionally recommended five wearable devices for patients with Parkinson’s disease, which will enable the NHS to better collect data on patients’ symptoms.
These wearable devices have sensors that are able to record a range of motor symptoms such as dyskinesia (involuntary movement), bradykinesia (slowness), tremor and non-motor symptoms such as sleep disturbance.
The Committee hopes that these devices will enable doctors to record patients’ symptoms more accurately compared to in-person appointments and help inform medication decisions and follow up treatment such as physiotherapy.
Devices could be rolled out to hundreds of thousands of patients with Parkinson’s disease
The five technologies approved for conditional use are:
- The Personal KinetiGraph (PKG) Movement Recording System (Global Kinetics Corporation)
- STAT-ON (Sense4care)
- Kinesia 360 (Great Lakes Neurotechnologies)
- KinesiaU (Great Lakes Neurotechnologies)
- PDMonitor (PD Neurotechnology)
Each of the devices works slightly differently, and are worn in different ways. The Kinesia 360, for example, is worn on the wrist and ankle, whereas the STAT-ON is worn on the waist.
While all the devices measure patient’s symptoms (e.g. involuntary movement or tremor), some are also able to register when medication has been taken and prompt patients when it is time to do so. Others feature exercise and diet diaries via a linked app.
NICE has asked the NHS to provide further evidence on the impact on resources associated with using the technologies for people with Parkinson’s disease and their carers; the impact on symptoms or health-related quality of life and how long this lasts for; how frequently the devices are used, and under what circumstances.
Hundreds of patients have already been issued with the PKG watch as part of a scheme that could be rolled out to around 120,000 Parkinson’s disease patients in England.
New technology could have a “transformative effect” on patient care
Mark Chapman, interim director of Medical Technology at NICE, said: “Providing wearable technology to people with Parkinson’s disease could have a transformative effect on their care and lead to changes in their treatment taking place more quickly.
“However, there is uncertainty in the evidence at present on these five promising technologies which is why the committee has conditionally recommended their use by the NHS while data is collected to eliminate these evidence gaps.
“We are committed to balancing the best care with value for money, delivering both for individuals and society as a whole, while at the same time driving innovation into the hands of health and care professionals to enable best practice.”