M. Do your Parkinson’s symptoms fluctuate?

We are recruiting subjects for a study to help develop wearable sensors to monitor motor fluctuations in Parkinson’s disease.
 
We are conducting a study in collaboration with researchers from Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital to test a new device that we hope will be able to record data about the ups and downs of your motor functioning related to Parkinson's disease. We are hoping to develop a system of sensors that can monitor how you function at home.  The sensors would gather information and then transmit the information to a computer that can collect the information and report how much your motor function changes throughout the day.
 
To be eligible for the study, you must be diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, be taking levodopa (Sinemet), and be experiencing motor fluctuations (feeling good when your medicine has just been taken, and feeling more parkinsonian when your medication is wearing off). On two visits, you will be studied at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Clinical Research Center over a period of 3-4 hours while you go through a medication cycle. Testing consists of motor tasks similar to the ones your neurologist asks you to perform in a clinic visit while wearing sensors attached to your back, arms and legs. On the third and final visit, researchers will come to your home to test your motor symptoms and the wireless sensor system.
 
This study is sponsored by the Michael J. Fox Foundation.
 
For more information, please contact Peggy Rose, RN or Lauren Kraics at 617-667-9890.