Idiopathic Parkinson's disease is one of the most common chronic neurodegenerative disorders, particularly affecting people over 65. The disease has a significant impact on daily life. To detect early deterioration in cognitive, motor, and visual abilities due to a disease flare-up, a collaborative project between the Department Health at the Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen (THM) and the Department of Neurology at the University Hospital Giessen and Marburg (UKGM) in Marburg aims to develop an app that uses artificial intelligence to enable long-term monitoring in the home environment.
The "ParkinsonHessen-Digital" project is being funded with approximately €550,000 from the Distr@l programme, an initiative of the Hessian Minister for Digital Strategy and Development. Digital Minister Prof. Dr. Kristina Sinemus visited the project site today to learn more about it from Prof. Dr. Keywan Sohrabi of the Department Health at THM of Applied Sciences and his dedicated, interdisciplinary team.
“Telemedicine and digital applications can make treatment easier, especially for those with chronic illnesses. Digitalization combined with artificial intelligence can enable a longer, healthier, and safer life at home. Digitalization can provide valuable support, particularly for rural areas with long distances or for those with immobility,” said Minister Sinemus. “That’s why we are focusing on the health sector in both our Distr@l funding programme and our AI future agenda. Citizens experience the benefits of artificial intelligence directly in medicine.” The Distr@l funding programme is currently supporting 19 e-health projects with a total funding volume of more than 7 million euros. This represents almost 20 percent of all projects funded by Distr@l and almost 25 percent of the total funding approved to date.
During their visit to THM Applied Sciences, the project team presented the use of the developed app, as well as the data collection methods for long-term monitoring and anonymized scientific research. They also presented their current work on the speech analysis and control module and on the detection of hand rotations using a robotic arm. Among other things, the app enables tests of motor and visual skills, as well as automatic movement, body, and facial recognition. Thanks to the app, patients can perform long-term monitoring at home to detect early signs of deterioration due to a disease flare-up. To halt or slow the progression of the disease, treatment must be adjusted quickly. However, this often doesn't happen because patients either don't visit their specialist at all or only do so at long intervals. "We therefore have a significant data gap," said Prof. Dr. Keywan Sohrabi. "With an app and specific tests, patients can now keep a kind of data diary to fill this gap – and quickly identify any necessary adjustments to their therapy."
The goal of the "ParkinsonHessen-Digital" project is the development of a digital health application (DiGA) and the establishment of a new company by the supported startup team. Since the end of 2019, DiGAs can be certified as medical devices, enabling them to be prescribed by a doctor. The project is also supported by the Competence Center for Telemedicine and E-Health Hesse. Through a letter of intent, this center, together with the Research Campus of Central Hessen is supporting selected projects in developing guidelines, preparing events and presentations, and providing a data protection-compliant and free communication platform. This support is outlined in the "AI Meets Health" section of the Hessian AI Agenda. "Such innovative solutions are essential to ensure healthcare provision, especially in rural areas," said Prof. Dr. Matthias Willems, President of THM. He expressed his satisfaction that the project focuses on providing direct benefits to patients in their daily lives.
The minister's visit to THM was part of an action week entitled "Making old age better" by the Hessian state government from March 6th to 10th.