A Movement Monitor Based on Magneto-Inertial Sensors for Non-Ambulant Patients with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: A Pilot Study in Controlled Environment.
Measurement of muscle strength and activity of upper limbs of non-ambulant patients with neuromuscular diseases is a major challenge. ActiMyo® is an innovative device that uses magneto-inertial sensors to record angular velocities and linear accelerations that can be used over long periods of time in the home environment. The device was designed to insure long-term stability and good signal to noise ratio, even for very weak movements. In order to determine relevant and pertinent clinical variables with potential for use as outcome measures in clinical trials or to guide therapy decisions, we performed a pilot study in non-ambulant neuromuscular patients. We report here data from seven Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) patients (mean age 18.5 ± 5.5 years) collected in a clinical setting. Patients were assessed while wearing the device during performance of validated tasks (MoviPlate, Box and Block test and Minnesota test) and tasks mimicking daily living. The ActiMyo® sensors were placed on the wrists during all the tests. Software designed for use with the device computed several variables to qualify and quantify muscular activity in the non-ambulant subjects. Four variables representative of upper limb activity were studied: the rotation rate, the ratio of the vertical component in the overall acceleration, the hand elevation rate, and an estimate of the power of the upper limb. The correlations between clinical data and physical activity and the ActiMyo® movement parameters were analyzed. The mean of the rotation rate and mean of the elevation rate appeared promising since these variables had the best reliability scores and correlations with task scores. Parameters could be computed even in a patient with a Brooke functional score of 6. The variables chosen are good candidates as potential outcome measures in non-ambulant patients with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and use of the ActiMyo® is currently being explored in home environment.


BACKGROUND
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01611597.
Institut de Myologie, Groupe Hospitalier de La Pitié Salpêtrière, Paris, France.|Service de Neurologie Pédiatrique, Groupe de Recherches sur l'Analyse Multimodale de la Fonction Cérébrale, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Amiens-Picardie, Amiens, France.
Anne-Gaëlle
AG
Le Moing
Institut de Myologie, Groupe Hospitalier de La Pitié Salpêtrière, Paris, France.
Andreea Mihaela
AM
Seferian
Institut de Myologie, Groupe Hospitalier de La Pitié Salpêtrière, Paris, France.
Amélie
A
Moraux
Institut de Myologie, Groupe Hospitalier de La Pitié Salpêtrière, Paris, France.
Mélanie
M
Annoussamy
SYSNAV, Vernon, France.
Eric
E
Dorveaux
Institut de Myologie, Groupe Hospitalier de La Pitié Salpêtrière, Paris, France.
Erwan
E
Gasnier
Institut de Myologie, Groupe Hospitalier de La Pitié Salpêtrière, Paris, France.
Jean-Yves
JY
Hogrel
Institut de Myologie, Groupe Hospitalier de La Pitié Salpêtrière, Paris, France.
Thomas
T
Voit
SYSNAV, Vernon, France.
David
D
Vissière
Institut de Myologie, Groupe Hospitalier de La Pitié Salpêtrière, Paris, France.
Laurent
L
Servais
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D004780:Environment, Controlled; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008910:Minnesota; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000295:instrumentation*; D053580:Muscle Strength; D020388:Muscular Dystrophy, Duchenne / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012984:Software; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D034941:Upper Extremity / Q000503:physiopathology*; D055815:Young Adult