Eight years ago, the University of Rochester (N.Y.) Medical Center launched the smartphone app mPower to track Parkinson's symptoms; the National Institutes of Health recently issued a $4.9 million grant to follow patients using the tool and gather more detailed data on the disease.
The study will follow a group of volunteers using mPower, telehealth and fitness trackers. The researchers aim to collect decades worth of Parkinson's data, according to a May 10 URMC news release. More than 225 patients agreed to participate in the study and will be followed for three years, building on two previous clinical trials.
The study will focus on mid-stage Parkinson's with the aim of giving researchers precise ways to measure the impact of experimental therapies on this group of patients.
"COVID-19 disrupted clinical research and highlighted the need for tools to conduct remote clinical trials," Ruth Schneider, MD, principal investigator of the new study and an associate professor in the URMC Department of Neurology, said in the news release. "These same tools are now enabling us to conduct decentralized clinical trials and develop digital measures to better understand and improve treatment of this complex disease."