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Review
. 2021 Mar 3;21(4):16.
doi: 10.1007/s11910-021-01101-6.

Digital Technology in Movement Disorders: Updates, Applications, and Challenges

Jamie L Adams  1   2 , Karlo J Lizarraga  1   2 , Emma M Waddell  2 , Taylor L Myers  2 , Stella Jensen-Roberts  2 , Joseph S Modica  1 , Ruth B Schneider  3   4
Affiliations
Review

Digital Technology in Movement Disorders: Updates, Applications, and Challenges

Jamie L Adams et al. Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep. .

Abstract

Purpose of review: Digital technology affords the opportunity to provide objective, frequent, and sensitive assessment of disease outside of the clinic environment. This article reviews recent literature on the application of digital technology in movement disorders, with a focus on Parkinson's disease (PD) and Huntington's disease.

Recent findings: Recent research has demonstrated the ability for digital technology to discriminate between individuals with and without PD, identify those at high risk for PD, quantify specific motor features, predict clinical events in PD, inform clinical management, and generate novel insights. Digital technology has enormous potential to transform clinical research and care in movement disorders. However, more work is needed to better validate existing digital measures, including in new populations, and to develop new more holistic digital measures that move beyond motor features.

Keywords: Digital technology; Huntington’s disease; Movement disorders; Parkinson’s disease; Smartphones; Wearable devices.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest except for Dr. Ruth B. Schneider.

Dr. Ruth B. Schneider reports grants from the National Institutes of Health, grants from Acadia Pharmaceuticals, grants from Biohaven Pharmaceuticals, grants from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, grants from CHDI Foundation, grants from Canadian Institute of Health Research, grants from Teva Pharmaceuticals, grants from Pfizer, and grants from Nuredis, Inc., outside the submitted work.

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