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Digital Tools for Assessment of Motor Functions and Falls in ALS
Sponsor: Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
Summary
This is a 48-week single arm study that incorporates digital tools for assessing motor function as part of an ALS telemonitoring program. During the study, neck- and wrist-worn "activity sensors" (PAMSys, BioSensics, Newton, MA) that will be worn by subjects while performing tasks of daily living. Subjects will also complete a motor, speech, and handwriting assessment during site visits. Subjects will complete a digital home assessments of speech, handwriting, and pattern tracing tasks throughout the study, and report any falls which occur on the study tablet. The investigators will explore whether functional changes are sensitive to self-reported changes on the ALS Functional Rating Scale - Revised (ALFRS-R) over the length of the study.
Key Details
Gender
All
Age Range
18 Years - Any
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
20
Start Date
2021-10-01
Completion Date
2026-06-30
Last Updated
2026-02-13
Healthy Volunteers
No
Interventions
PAMSys Activity Monitoring System
This system is composed of a Study Tablet running custom fall detection and reporting software and PAMSys sensors. PAMSys provides clinical-grade physical activity monitoring, storing the raw accelerometer data that can be used for analyzing activity parameters such as those listed in Table 3. Sensor data will be downloaded manually upon receipt of the study device by Biosensics, the study sponsor. Sensors can be worn during all activities including while showering and sleeping. The rated battery life is 3-6 months for the fall sensor, and 4 weeks for the activity sensors. This system is not classified as a medical device. Reports of sensor use, step number, battery level, and memory availability are sent hourly to a secured and HIPAA compliant back-end server provided by BioSensics. The Study Tablet also contains modules for performing speech, handwriting, and pattern tracing tasks.
Motor, Speech, and Handwriting Assessment
These assessments occur at each study visit. After equipping the subject with 3 activity sensors (1 on pendant around neck and 2 on wrists). * 10-meter walk task (5 minutes) - The subject starts from a standing position and walks a length of 10 meters. The best time of three trials is used. * Timed Up and Go (TUG) test (5 minutes) - Subjects stand, walk to a marker on the floor 3 meters ahead, turn around the marker, walk back to the chair, and sit. The best time of three trials is used. * Handwriting Assessment Battery (HAB) (15 minutes) \[Faddy2008\] - The subject is seated at a table with a pencil and paper and performs a series of writing tasks. * Speech Assessment Battery (SAB)(10 minutes) - The participant will perform a set of audio recordings using the study tablet while sitting in a quiet room.
Locations (1)
Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States