To help Parkinson’s patients in their daily lives, in everyday gestures, that is, to make their lives easier. That is the aim of a new mobile application being developed by a team of researchers at the Parkinson’s and Movement Disorders Unit of the Teknon Medical Center and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia. The device is called Rempark and could change the lives of Parkinson’s patients, as explained in this video from the Canal 33 program Generació Digital.
In the first phase of the research project “what we want to develop are motion sensors that are able to detect when the Parkinson’s patient has some changes at the motor level,” explained Dr. Àngels Bayès.
Situations that cause problems for these patients are also being recorded, for example when passing through a narrow place. When the device is ready, it will form part of a mobile application so that the patient can be warned (via an earpiece) to change the rhythm and thus make this previously difficult situation easier. In addition, the patient will be monitored and his doctor will be able to control him in real time, and the application will even request an ambulance when it detects that the patient has fallen in the street.
The study is being carried out on 92 patients in different European countries and could become a reality in 2 years. Dr. Bayès has assured that “most patients agree that it could be useful and are willing to try it out”. Undoubtedly, one more advance for those who suffer from this tough disease.