Quantifying motor impairment
The motor signs of Parkinson’s disease and some other conditions are subtle and difficult to diagnose objectively, especially early in the disease process when interventions may be particularly effective. Our team realized that the solution for detecting this early decline may be literally at our fingertips… in the daily interactions that each of us has with computers, mobile phones, and tablets. Our team’s advanced computational algorithms can distinguish changes due to motor impairment from these keyboard tactile interactions. With this, electronic devices could provide informative quantitative measurements, sound the early alert needed for intervention and possibly provide an improved outcome for treatment, or treatment adjustment.
neuroQWERTY is supported in part by the Ramón Areces Seed Fund and the Michael J Fox Foundation.
Name & Contact
Team neuroQWERTY |
Project status
M+Visión project Jan 2014 – Sep 2015
Sector Point of care diagnosis. Digital devices. Parkinson. Neurodegeneration & Aging
Fellows
Álvaro Sánchez-Ferro, Luca Giancardo, Ian Butterworth, Carlos Sánchez Mendoza
Collaborators
Félix Bermejo-Pareja
Hospital 12 de Octubre
José Obeso,
Fundación Hospitales de Madrid
Maria José Catalán
Hospital Clínico San Carlos
John H. Growdon, Neurology
MGH
Jacob Hooker
Martinos Center MGH
“Computer keyboard interaction as an indicator of early Parkinson’s disease” L. Giancardo, A. Sánchez-Ferro, T. Arroyo-Gallego, I. Butterworth, C. S. Mendoza, P. Montero, M. Matarazzo, J. A. Obeso, M. L. Gray & R. San José Estépar. Scientific Reports.
Disclosures
NeuroQWERTY (MIT 16755)
Apparatus And Method For Motor Function Characterization (MIT 16755)
Patents
Neuroqwerty (MIT 16755)
United States of America Serial No. 61/969940, Filed March 25, 2014
Apparatus And Method For Motor Function Characterization (MIT 16755)
United States of America Serial No. 14/668945, Filed March 25, 2015
Awardee, Fundación Ramón Areces seed funding grant
Project selected for MIT Translational Fellows Program 2014-15 (represented by Luca Giancardo)
Global Young Scientist Summit (Luca Giancardo) Singapore January 2015. Winner, 2015 Singapore Challenge Top Prize and Gold Medallion
Selected for presentation to MIT Charter Society (April 2015)
Featured on MIT news:
https://newsoffice.mit.edu/2015/typing-patterns-diagnose-early-onset-parkinsons-0401
Selected for presentation to MIT Venturing Service Community (2015)
Media and updates
On October 5, 2016, Team neuroQWERTY was featured on MIT news. Read more +
On April 28, 2015, El País ran a story about Team neuroQWERTY. Read more+
On April 16, 2015, Smithsonian Magazine online ran a story about Team neuroQWERTY. Read more+
On April 1, 2015, Team neuroQWERTY was featured on MIT news. Read more+
In January 2015, Team neuroQWERTY won the 2015 Singapore Challenge and $100k. Read more+