Tremor is a common movement disorder that manifests as shaking caused by rhythmic muscle contractions. Although tremor is not a life-threatening condition per se, it can become disabling interfere with a patient’s ability to perform simple tasks, impacting quality of life.
Physicians diagnose tremor based upon observations during a physical examination. By its nature, this assessment requires training and is subject to variability based on the physician performing it. In order to improve patient assessment, the Seeker is interested in a robust, objective method to collect tremor measurements for immediate and future analysis.
Image credit: USGS /Wikipedia/Public Domain
This Theoretical Challenge requires only a written proposal.
Overview
Although tremor is associated with several neurological disorders (e.g. stroke, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease), it also occurs in isolation in conditions like Essential Tremor (ET). Tremor is classified into two main categories: rest tremor or action tremor which occurs with voluntary movement and is the type of tremor involved in ET. For the purposes of this Challenge, the Seeker is looking for a reliable and precise method to measure action tremor in the hands of patients when asked to perform a specific activity (e.g. holding arms outstretched, finger-to-nose test, reaching for an object).
Submissions to this Challenge must be received by 11:59 PM (US Eastern Time) on October 13, 2021.
Source: InnoCentive