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Review
. 2026 Feb;133(2):297-307.
doi: 10.1007/s00702-025-03062-3. Epub 2025 Nov 12.

Clinical utility of digital technologies in Parkinson's disease

Björn Falkenburger  1 , Alessandra Fanciulli  2 , Monika Pötter-Nerger  3 , Thilo van Eimeren  4 , Joseph Classen  5 , Günter Höglinger  6   7 , Christoph Redecker  8 , Jürgen Winkler  9 , Jochen Klucken  10
Affiliations
Review

Clinical utility of digital technologies in Parkinson's disease

Björn Falkenburger et al. J Neural Transm (Vienna). 2026 Feb.

Abstract

Digital health technologies (DHTs) are on the verge of changing treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD). This narrative overview article describes DHTs that are already used or in development, focusing on technologies available in Germany and on their clinical utility. Examples include applications that are primarily used by patients, i.e., tools for patient education and empowerment, but also stand-alone interventions improving clinical outcomes including motor and non-motor symptoms. In Germany, these patient-centered DHTs fall under the HTA framework of digital health applications (DIGA). DHT for telemonitoring, in contrast, are designed to support physicians and other healthcare providers and therefore medical devices. DHT are also used increasingly as exploratory endpoints in trials testing neuroprotective treatments.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Conflict of interest: JK and JW hold ownerships of Portabiles HealthCare Technologies GmbH and Portabiles GmbH. All other authors declare no conflicts of interest. Tables.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Summary of potential applications for DHTs in Parkinson’s disease
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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