Wearable Health Technology to Quantify the Functional Impact of Peripheral Neuropathy on Mobility in Parkinson’s Disease: A Systematic Review

Abstract

The occurrence of peripheral neuropathy (PNP) is often observed in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients with a prevalence up to 55%, leading to more prominent functional deficits. Motor assessment with mobile health technologies allows high sensitivity and accuracy and is widely adopted in PD, but scarcely used for PNP assessments. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the methodologies and the most relevant features to investigate PNP and PD motor deficits with wearables. Because of the lack of studies investigating motor impairments in this specific subset of PNP-PD patients, Pubmed, Scopus, and Web of Science electronic databases were used to summarize the state of the art on PNP motor assessment with wearable technology and compare it with the existing evidence on PD. A total of 24 papers on PNP and 13 on PD were selected for data extraction: The main characteristics were described, highlighting major findings, clinical applications, and the most relevant features. The information from both groups (PNP and PD) was merged for defining future directions for the assessment of PNP-PD patients with wearable technology. We established suggestions on the assessment protocol aiming at accurate patient monitoring, targeting personalized treatments and strategies to prevent falls and to investigate PD and PNP motor characteristics.

The Feasibility of Equine Field-Based Postural Sway Analysis Using a Single Inertial Sensor

“…Pressure mats have been shown to be a potential solution [ 23 ]; however, the portability and cost of inertial sensors compared with force and pressure plates [ 5 ] enables the potential of unsupervised postural sway monitoring in the equine domain. A 2020 systematic review of wearable technology to assess peripheral neuropathy identified the feasibility, accuracy, and validity of wearable devices in discriminating between healthy and balance impaired human populations [ 4 ]. Najafi et al 2010 reported a strong correlation (r = 0.92) for balance features derived from pressure platforms and wearable technology in all study conditions [ 4 , 37 ].…”

“…A 2020 systematic review of wearable technology to assess peripheral neuropathy identified the feasibility, accuracy, and validity of wearable devices in discriminating between healthy and balance impaired human populations [ 4 ]. Najafi et al 2010 reported a strong correlation (r = 0.92) for balance features derived from pressure platforms and wearable technology in all study conditions [ 4 , 37 ]. This research sought to expand the understanding of the incidence of naturally occurring quiet standing in equines and the feasibility of using wearable sensor technology to detect bilateral lameness-related changes in equine postural sway.…”

“…Postural sway (PS) has been described as the subtle sway during quiet stance [ 1 ], which facilitates the body’s ability to balance in any posture or activity [ 2 ]. PS is thought to provide information regarding postural control, i.e., the ability to maintain the body’s centre of mass (COM) within the base of support using somatosensory, vestibular, and visual sensory networks [ 3 , 4 , 5 ]. Perturbations such as visual occlusion have been reported to increase sway by up to 50% [ 6 ] while various standing tasks are used to assess balance deficits [ 7 ].…”

“…The rationale for the wither’s placement was to capture posture sway at a globally stable point that could pick up changes due to bilateral lameness. This rationale is supported by the commonly used lumbar sensor position in human research, preferred due to its proximity to the COM and lower limbs [ 4 , 10 ]. This study was guided by two main aims.…”

Analysis of Older Adults in Spanish Care Facilities, Risk of Falling and Daily Activity Using Xiaomi Mi Band 2

“…Regarding fall detection, the solutions are focused on visual sensors, telecare solutions with user interaction, mobile applications, or wearable systems [ 19 ]. Wearables constitute any mobile device worn on the body, called on-body sensors, such as inertial measurement units, smart watches, wristbands, or Holter electrocardiogram monitors [ 20 ]. They provide objective and quantitative measures from controlled and unsupervised environments.…”