Wearable tech roll-out for people with Parkinson’s disease

Sensors within the wearable devices will monitor the symptoms of people with Parkinson’s disease and record information about a person’s symptoms more accurately than an in-person clinical assessment. According to NICE, such information will help inform medication decisions and follow up treatment.

Parkinson's disease is an incurable neurological condition that leads to progressive loss of coordination and movement problems. It is caused by loss of the cells in the brain that are responsible for producing dopamine, which helps to control and coordinate body movements.

People with Parkinson’s disease experience a range of motor symptoms, that can include dyskinesia (involuntary movement), bradykinesia (slowness) and tremor; non-motor symptoms include sleep disturbances.

In a statement, Mark Chapman, interim director of medical technology at NICE, said: “Providing wearable technology to people with Parkinson’s disease could have a transformative effect on their care and lead to changes in their treatment taking place more quickly.

“However there is uncertainty in the evidence at present on these five promising technologies which is why the committee has conditionally recommended their use by the NHS while data is collected to eliminate these evidence gaps.