Kinematic Sensor Tremor Analysis for Precise Muscle Targeting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for treating tremor in movement disorders, such as Parkinson's disease and Essential Tremor, are inadequate due to the complexity of tremor dynamics and the reliance on visual assessment, which leads to suboptimal treatment outcomes and side effects from Botulinum neurotoxin type A injections.
Innovation Solution
A system and method utilizing kinematic sensors to measure and analyze joint motion with multiple degrees of freedom, allowing for the deconstruction of tremor data into amplitude and directional bias for each muscle group, enabling personalized treatment regimens and precise drug dosage administration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If visual assessment is used to determine tremor characteristics and guide BoNT A injection, then the treatment process is simple and quick, but the measurement precision is insufficient leading to suboptimal treatment outcomes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces visual assessment (subjective mechanical observation) with an automated sensor-based system that objectively measures tremor characteristics. The system uses sensors to detect movement parameters and processes this data to identify tremor composition and directional bias, eliminating the imprecision of human visual assessment while providing quantitative, repeatable measurements for treatment planning.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-service by automatically analyzing tremor data and generating treatment recommendations without requiring expert clinical interpretation. The automated processing of sensor data to determine muscle selection and dosage reduces dependence on clinician expertise and experience, making the assessment process more consistent and accessible.
2Reliability
If BoNT A is injected into multiple muscles to address complex tremor dynamics, then tremor reduction may be achieved, but muscle weakness and side effects increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by precisely targeting specific muscles based on the identified tremor composition and directional bias for each degree of freedom. Instead of injecting multiple muscles broadly, the system determines the specific muscle groups responsible for tremor in each directional component (flexion/extension, abduction/adduction, internal/external rotation) and targets only those muscles, reducing unnecessary toxin exposure to non-contributing muscles and their side effects.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the tremor analysis into distinct degrees of freedom (flexion/extension, abduction/adduction, internal/external rotation), each potentially involving different muscle groups. This segmentation allows for precise, targeted injection strategies for each directional component rather than treating the entire joint complex uniformly, enabling selective chemodenervation that addresses specific tremor sources while sparing other muscles.
3Reliability
If standard BoNT A dosing is used without considering tremor composition, then the treatment process is straightforward, but treatment outcomes are inconsistent
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the dosing parameter from a fixed standard dose to a variable dose determined by tremor composition analysis. The system calculates dosage based on the proportion of tremor amplitude contributed by each muscle group across different degrees of freedom, allowing the injection parameters to adapt to each patient's specific tremor characteristics. This personalized approach improves outcome consistency by matching dosage to the actual tremor pathology rather than applying uniform treatment.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for obtaining and analyzing data for overall joint motion from a plurality of joints of a subject experiencing a movement disorder involves a plurality of kinematic sensors configured to be placed on a body of a subject proximal a plurality of joints. The kinematic sensors are selected to measure overall joint motion with sufficient degrees of freedom for individual joints so that data collected by the sensors can be deconstructed into multiple degrees of freedom for individual joints and analyzed to provide amplitude of the movements caused by the movement disorder and/or relative contributions from and/or directional bias for each muscle group that may be implicated in the movement of each joint. The system permits determining a treatment regimen based on the amplitude of the movements and/or the relative contribution and/or directional bias of each muscle group to the movements caused by the movement disorder.