Exploring the effects of deep brain stimulation and vision on tremor in Parkinson’s disease - benefits from objective methods
Authors
Fransson, Per-AndersNilsson, Maria H.
Niehorster, Diederick C.
Nyström, Marcus
Rehncrona, Stig
Tjernström, Fredrik
Magnusson, Måns
Johansson, Rolf
Patel, Mitesh
Issue Date
2020-04-25
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Background Tremor is a cardinal symptom of Parkinson’s disease (PD) that may cause severe disability. As such, objective methods to determine the exact characteristics of the tremor may improve the evaluation of therapy. This methodology study aims to validate the utility of two objective technical methods of recording Parkinsonian tremor and evaluate their ability to determine the effects of Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus and of vision. Methods We studied 10 patients with idiopathic PD, who were responsive to L-Dopa and had more than 1 year use of bilateral subthalamic nucleus stimulation. The patients did not have to display visible tremor to be included in the study. Tremor was recorded with two objective methods, a force platform and a 3 dimensional (3D) motion capture system that tracked movements in four key proximal sections of the body (knee, hip, shoulder and head). They were assessed after an overnight withdrawal of anti-PD medications with DBS ON and OFF and with eyes open and closed during unperturbed and perturbed stance with randomized calf vibration, using a randomized test order design. Results Tremor was detected with the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) in 6 of 10 patients but only distally (hands and feet) with DBS OFF. With the force platform and the 3D motion capture system, tremor was detected in 6 of 10 and 7 of 10 patients respectively, mostly in DBS OFF but also with DBS ON in some patients. The 3D motion capture system revealed that more than one body section was usually affected by tremor and that the tremor amplitude was non-uniform, but the frequency almost identical, across sites. DBS reduced tremor amplitude non-uniformly across the body. Visual input mostly reduced tremor amplitude with DBS ON. Conclusions Technical recording methods offer objective and sensitive detection of tremor that provide detailed characteristics such as peak amplitude, frequency and distribution pattern, and thus, provide information that can guide the optimization of treatments. Both methods detected the effects of DBS and visual input but the 3D motion system was more versatile in that it could detail the presence and properties of tremor at individual body sections.Citation
Fransson, P., Nilsson, M.H., Niehorster, D.C. et al. Exploring the effects of deep brain stimulation and vision on tremor in Parkinson’s disease - benefits from objective methods. J NeuroEngineering Rehabil 17, 56 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12984-020-00677-3Publisher
BioMed CentralJournal
Journal of NeuroEngineering and RehabilitationType
Journal articleLanguage
enDescription
© 2020 The Authors. Published by BMC. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12984-020-00677-3ISSN
1743-0003Sponsors
The authors wish to acknowledge the financial supported from the Swedish Medical Research Council (grant nr. 17x-05693), the Medical Faculty, Lund University, Sweden, the Skåne county Council’s research and development foundation and the Swedish Parkinson Academy.ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1186/s12984-020-00677-3
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Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/