Therapeutic area

Parkinson's disease

Evaluating digital measures of movement, daily activity, falls, speech, cognition, and fine motor function in Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive brain disorder that can affect movement, speech, thinking, mood, sleep, and daily function. Motor symptoms include slowness of movement, stiffness, tremor, and changes in walking and balance. Symptoms, their onset, and their progression vary from person to person.

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BioSensics technology used in PD clinical trials

BioSensics reports use of its technologies in more than 10 PD clinical trials. Published research includes sensor-based gait measurements used as primary and secondary outcomes.

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Our research in PD

Our PD research combines wearable sensors and digital assessments to evaluate measures of motor function and selected non-motor domains. We study gait, daily activity, and potential falls using wearables; speech features using BioDigit Speech; and cognitive and fine motor performance using standardized digital tasks.

For sponsors developing endpoints in PD, see Endpoint Development

Digital measures for tracking PD

We combine wearable sensors and digital assessments to study PD-related function in the clinic and at home. Measures of gait, activity, potential falls, speech, cognition, and fine motor performance are evaluated alongside clinical assessments to understand what repeated digital measurements can add between visits.

  • PAMSys and PAMSys Fall

    Wearable sensors that characterize daily activity, walking, and posture, with PAMSys Fall identifying potential falls for review.

  • LEGSys

    Wearable sensors that quantify walking speed, stride timing, and other gait features during standardized assessments at home or in the clinic.

  • BioDigit Speech

    Standardized speech tasks and automated analysis to characterize speech features relevant to dysarthria.

  • Cognitive and fine motor assessments

    Standardized digital tasks to measure cognitive and fine motor performance repeatedly at home.

Studying differences between PD and related disorders

PD and other causes of parkinsonism can share symptoms, especially early in the disease course. Our studies examine whether speech and gait features help distinguish groups with PD and related disorders, including progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). These research findings require further validation for diagnostic use.

  • Speech analysis

    Automated analysis of speech features has identified differences between PD and PSP in research cohorts, supporting further study of diagnostic applications.

  • Wearable gait assessment

    At-home wearable assessments have identified gait differences between small PD and PSP study groups, including differences in walking speed and gait phases.

  • Multimodal differentiation

    We are exploring whether combining speech, gait, and other digital measures can improve characterization of PD and related neurological disorders.

Our research partners

We collaborate with academic medical centers to evaluate digital measures in PD research.

  • Baylor College of Medicine
  • Johns Hopkins University
  • Massachusetts General Hospital

Selected publications and presentations

Advance PD research with digital measures

Plan digital assessments for your PD study. Discuss research collaboration, study protocols, and access to relevant datasets with our team.

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