A novel technology-based tool for performing motor assessment in neuromuscular disorders

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Raffaele Conte 1, Gianluca Diodato 1, Maria Cristina Scudellari 1, Alessandro Tonacci 1, Stefano Roccella 2, Andrea Vannini 2, Silvia Frosini 3, Roberto Chiappini 4, Giulia Ricci 4, Gabriele Siciliano 4, Francesca Torri 4, Diego Lopergolo 5, Alessandro Malandrini 5, Sabrina Matà 6, Martina Sperti 6, Corrado Angelini 7, Francesco Sansone 1

1 Institute of Clinical Physiology, National Research Council of Italy (IFC-CNR), Pisa, Italy; 2 Biorobotics Institute, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Livorno, Italy; 3 IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation, Calambrone, Italy; 4 Pisa University Hospital, Pisa, Italy; 5 Siena University Hospital, Siena, Italy; 6 Careggi University Hospital, Firenze, Italy; 7 University of Padua, Padova, Italy

Motor assessment is pivotal in evaluating the functional abilities of individuals with neuromuscular disorders (NMDs). Tests are usually conducted at clinics, and tests like the Six-Minute Walk Test (6MWT), the North Start Ambulatory Assessment (NSAA), the Performance of the Upper Limb (PUL) are used to monitor patients’ functional conditions both at baseline and follow-up. Moreover, these tests are used in many clinical trials to understand the efficacy of new drugs. However, the lack of technological tools to help performing such examinations makes the work of the clinicians burdensome, mainly relying on pen-and-paper, with considerable use of dedicated staff and poor efficiency in retrieving old data from the archives for comparison of clinical trajectories. Within the InGene 2.0 project, aiming at building a technology-based suite of tools to support the clinicians and data scientists in NMDs, some solutions specifically devoted to motor assessment were developed. Health360, the software implemented for collecting multimodal data in NMDs is linked to various modules, including the PhysioTest, in turn allowing the clinicians to perform motor assessments through a dedicated interface operating on PC/MAC and tablets. The tool enables performing tests and storing data related to 6MWT, NSAA, PUL and others; feedbacks from clinicians highlighted significant improvement in timesaving and efficiency of their job thanks to the solution. More recently, an App was developed for both Android and iOS to allow performing the tests directly by the smartphone, with further significant time and resources reduction, not sacrificing the accuracy and usefulness of the assessment.

Acknowledgment: The present work was supported by the project InGene 2.0, funded by the Tuscany Region under the Bando Salute 2018.