Fraunhofer Center for Assistive Information and Communication Solutions – AICOSDevised to create a wearable monitoring system for people with Parkinson’s disease, the REMPARK project was launched in November 2011. Gathering researchers from 8 different countries, the goal was to develop a personal health device for the remote and autonomous management of Parkinson’s disease. Next April 21st, and as a way to mark the end of the project, the REMPARK consortium will host a workshop in Madrid where the project’s results will be shared with the community and where visitors may be able to try out the different modules of the system in live demonstrations.
On this final workshop there will be a description of the project, medical doctors will be talking about Parkinson’s disease, and there will be a round-table on the future of Parkinson’s disease management. The keynote address will be given by Dr. Gurutz Linazasoro Cristobal, Director of the Parkinson Research Centre at Policlínica Gipuzkoa. Dr. Linazasoro is a National reference in Spain regarding Parkinson’s disease and has also a strong international reputation in the field.
Taking place at Telefonica’s flagship building, on 28 Gran Vía, the workshop is open to everyone. We are expecting to welcome not only medical doctors or heath companies, but also Parkinson’s patients, who have been at the forefront of the system developments from onset. In the project’s final trials, people with Parkinson’s disease from four different countries have tried the whole system within their own environment and the feedback suggests that this system could indeed bring quality of life to people with this neurodegenerative disease.
One of the project’s goals was to achieve real-time identification of motor symptoms and then act over these symptoms. Another goal was to allow for the intelligent analysis of the data gathered by the wearable system in order to allow treating physicians to make better informed decisions about the treatment to prescribe.
In the REMPARK project, Fraunhofer AICOS has been responsible for the development of the Auditory Cueing System (ACS), which is triggered automatically as soon as the system detects gait disturbances. By following the auditory cues, people with Parkinson’s disease wearing the REMPARK system are able to recover their normal gait and, in this way, the system is helping to prevent falls amongst these users.
Another part of the system in which Fraunhofer AICOS had an important role was in the design and development of the smartphone applications. REMPARK’s smartphone acts as a common, but highly usable, mobile phone for communication with others and it offers several specific applications which will help people with Parkinson’s disease manage their condition. Examples of such applications are: medication, agenda, symptoms visualization, or games for remote motor status assessment.
Project REMPARK was funded by the European Union under the 7th Framework Programme, it had a budget of over 4.5 M€ for a total of 3 years.
Workshop Programme
09.30h: Reception and refreshments
10.00h: Introduction and project overview
- Mr. Jordi Rovira (Telefónica eHealth R&D Manager
- Mr. Chiu Man (European Parkinson’s Disease Association)
- Project overview by Prof Joan Cabestany (REMPARK coordinator)
10.20h: Talks about Parkinson disease and needs for better management
- Angels Bayes (TEKNON)
- Ms. Sara Riggare
11.00h: Coffee break (start of Demo Zone)
11.30h: Sensing movement disorders
- Dr. Albert Sama (main researcher on PD symptoms detection in REMPARK)
- Dr. Manuel Moreno (main researcher on PD symptoms detection in REMPARK)
11.50h: Presentation on telemonitoring and DSS on PD
- Dr. Hadas Lewy (director at Maccabi Healthcare Services)
- Mr. David Labajo (executive manager at Telefónica eHealth Spain)
12.30h: Patient feedback and care (1): Smartphone apps and Auditory Cueing
- Dr. Ana Correia de Barros (senior researcher at Fraunhofer Portugal AICOS)
- Ms. Vânia Guimarães (researcher at the same organization and main conductor of the auditory cueing research)
12.50h: Buffet lunch (Demo zone in parallel)
13.30h: Patient feedback and care (2): FES system
- Prof. Gearóid Ó Laighin (NUIG Galway)
- Mr. Pat Hobbert (senior executive in M&M Qualtech)
(main contributors to the development of the FES system)
13.50h: Talk on the future on Parkinson’s self-management
- Dr. Gurutz Linazasoro (director at the Parkinson Research Centre in Policlínica Gipuzkoa)
14.20h: Round table discussion
Open debate with all speakers attending public questions regarding the project
15.00h: REMPARK’s main outcomes and next steps
- Dr. Manuel Moreno
- Dr. Àngels Bayès
15.30h: Closing
- Mr. Jordi Rovira
- Mr. Chiu Man
- Prof Joan Cabestany
The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework.