Wearable Sensor Study to Help Manage Swallowing and Drooling Problems in Parkinsons Disease

What this Trial Is About

Researchers are developing and validating a wearable sensor designed to help patients with Parkinsons Disease PD who have swallowing difficulties and drooling problems. This study focuses on improving the devices battery life and size, assessing usability with patient feedback, and testing its ability to detect and encourage swallowing in PD patients. The aim is to provide a digital therapeutic platform that can support swallowing function in this population. The wearable device, called the Aria sensor, is a patch that monitors physiological signals continuously and provides vibratory haptic cues to increase how often participants swallow. Participants will use the sensor for three weeks, with the device actively providing haptic cues only during the second week. This single-arm study tracks how the sensor performs in real-life conditions without randomization or blinding. Participants will be involved for three weeks, during which researchers will measure swallow frequency changes, participant adherence to using the haptic cues, and changes in clinical scales related to drooling and swallowing. Assessments include comparing sensor data to a gold standard and evaluating symptom severity before and after the intervention. The study also includes focus groups to gather patient feedback on usability, and safety monitoring is conducted throughout the study period.

A Digital Therapeutic Platform for Swallowing and Drooling Problems in Parkinson's