Background Parkinson disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease that has a wide range of motor symptoms, such as tremor. Tremors are involuntary movements that occur in rhythmic oscillations and are typically categorized into rest tremor or action tremor. Action tremor occurs during voluntary movements and is a debilitating symptom of PD. As noninvasive interventions are limited, there is an ever-increasing need for an effective intervention for individuals experiencing action tremors. The Microsoft Emma Watch, a wristband with 5 vibrating motors, is a noninvasive, nonpharmaceutical intervention for tremor attenuation. Objective This pilot study investigated the use of the Emma Watch device to attenuate action tremor in people with PD. Methods The sample included 9 people with PD who were assessed on handwriting and hand function tasks performed on a digitized tablet. Tasks included drawing horizontal or vertical lines, tracing a star, spiral, writing “elelelel” in cursive, and printing a standardized sentence. Each task was completed 3 times with the Emma Watch programmed at different vibration intensities, which were counterbalanced: high intensity, low intensity (sham), and no vibration. Digital analysis from the tablet captured kinematic, dynamic, and spatial attributes of drawing and writing samples to calculate mathematical indices that quantify upper limb motor function. APDM Opal sensors (APDM Wearable Technologies) placed on both wrists were used to calculate metrics of acceleration and jerk. A questionnaire was provided to each participant after using the Emma Watch to gain a better understanding of their perspectives of using the device. In addition, drawings were compared to determine whether there were any visual differences between intensities. Results In total, 9 people with PD were tested: 4 males and 5 females with a mean age of 67 (SD 9.4) years. There were no differences between conditions in the outcomes of interest measured with the tablet (duration, mean velocity, number of peaks, pause time, and number of pauses). Visual differences were observed within a small subset of participants, some of whom reported perceived improvement. The majority of participants (8/9) reported the Emma Watch was comfortable, and no problems with the device were reported. Conclusions There were visually depicted and subjectively reported improvements in handwriting for a small subset of individuals. This pilot study was limited by a small sample size, and this should be taken into consideration with the interpretation of the quantitative results. Combining vibratory devices, such as the Emma Watch, with task specific training, or personalizing the frequency to one’s individual tremor may be important steps to consider when evaluating the effect of vibratory devices on hand function or writing ability in future studies. While the Emma Watch may help attenuate action tremor, its efficacy in improving fine motor or handwriting skills as a stand-alone tool remains to be demonstrated.
BACKGROUND Action tremor is a debilitating symptom of Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and there is a need for effective interventions. The Microsoft Emma Watch, a wristband with five vibrating motors, is a non-invasive, non-pharmaceutical intervention for tremor attenuation. OBJECTIVE This pilot study investigated the use of the Emma Watch device to attenuate action tremor in people with PD (PwPD). METHODS The sample included nine PwPD who were assessed on handwriting and hand function tasks. The tasks were completed with the Emma Watch at a high vibration intensity, a low intensity (sham), and compared these to their baseline (no vibration) to see if there were changes in performance. RESULTS Results indicated there were no significant differences found in the outcomes of interest measured with the tablet (duration, mean velocity, number of peaks, pause time, and number of pauses). Acceleration and jerk variables measured by APDM did not have significant differences between vibration intensities, except for normalized acceleration peaks, where a main effect of frequency was found. However, a post-hoc Tukey test revealed no pairwise differences between vibration intensities. CONCLUSIONS There were visually depicted and subjectively reported improvements in handwriting for a small subset of individuals. Our study did not indicate significant differences in any outcome measures. Future studies may benefit from a larger sample size and should focus on finding safe and effective ways to address Parkinson-induced action tremor and combining the Emma Watch with task specific training to study its effect on increasing hand function and/or writing ability.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.