Two separate expert panels have recommended Global Kinetics’ wearable technology, the Personal KinetiGraph (PKG) for routine management of Parkinson’s disease.

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Image: Global Kinetics recommended for Parkinson's Disease. Photo: Courtesy of rawpixel/Unsplash

The publications follow on the heels of the recent announcement by the company that the American Medical Association (AMA) has issued a set of new Category III Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes that become effective from January, next year.

Until recently, Parkinson’s disease has been one of the few chronic diseases still treated via subjective observation of symptomology. That is set to change as the PKG system is used by clinicians around the world to provide clinically validated continuous, objective measures of the distinguishing movement symptoms of Parkinson’s.

The two new landmark publications reflect the expert medical opinion of internationally recognized movement disorder specialists on the utilization of the PKG measurements to improve clinical management of Parkinson’s disease. The groups convened to examine the ideal objective measurement tool and clinical utility of the PKG in routine assessment and care of Parkinson’s patients.

The first publication, titled “Viewpoint and practical recommendations from a movement disorder specialist panel on objective measurement in the clinical management of Parkinson’s disease,” was published online in Nature journal npj Parkinson’s Disease and can be found at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41531-018-0051-7. The second publication, titled “Role of the Personal KinetiGraph in the routine clinical assessment of Parkinson’s disease: recommendations from an expert panel,” was published online in Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics, http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/iern20.

Key findings of these publications include:

  1. The PKG is uniquely positioned to provide a continuous objective measure of patient symptoms, including bradykinesia, which is both treatment responsive and the clearest indicator of underlying pathological degeneration.
  • Bradykinesia means slowness of movement, which is related to the loss of dopamine responsiveness in brain cells. Unlike more obvious and commonly associated symptoms such as dyskinesia (a response to standard treatments for Parkinson’s) and tremor, bradykinesia is often difficult for a patient to identify and for a doctor to assess.
  • No other clinical or research grade technology can provide passive measures of bradykinesia – establishing the PKG as an essential objective measure of bradykinesia in clinical decision-making.
  1. The consensus findings establish the importance of the PKG’s status as a clinically-validated medical grade technology cleared by multiple regulatory bodies with CPT codes supporting clinical use.
  • The PKG system is cleared to market for clinical use in 17 countries, including FDA clearance for the US and CE marking for Europe.
  1. Early clinical evidence and expert opinion suggest a role for the PKG in influencing and enhancing clinical decision-making.
  • In several routine clinical scenarios, use of the PKG can provide clinically meaningful data to aid clinical decision-making.
  • Early clinical experience and expert opinion suggest that utilization of continuous objective measurement technologies such as the PKG have the potential to improve medical care in people with Parkinson’s disease.

To date, more than 30,000 patient PKG reports have been supplied to tailor therapy and improve management for Parkinson’s patients. More than 3,000,000 recording hours have been provided to 200 Parkinson’s specialist clinics across the world.

Global Kinetics CEO John Schellhorn said: “Global Kinetics is proud to announce this latest achievement in its commercial trajectory – and more importantly in our mission to make a meaningful difference for all people with Parkinson’s. While there is much interest and dialogue about wearable technologies in Parkinson’s, two international panels of experts have recognized the value of the PKG in routine care.  These publications position the PKG as enhancing the management of Parkinson’s disease and differentiate it from other research and investigatory tools.

“These studies, combined with the CPT III codes which will become effective 1 January next year, position the PKG as a viable tool to objectively measure key Parkinson’s symptoms.  We are excited to provide a product which will assist clinicians in optimizing therapy for their PD patients.”

Source: Company Press Release