Application of wearable monitoring system in tourette syndrome assessment

Abstract

This study presents the application of a wearable monitoring system for the assessment of tic events in subjects affected by Tourette Syndrome (TS). A multifactorial analysis and validation of the proposed system is carried out collecting simultaneous and synchronized recordings of data from the wearable actigraph and from two video cameras that allowed two medical doctors with different expertise to classify the motor events as tics and their related severity scale. A dedicated software implements the algorithm for automatic tic detection and to compare this assessment with the standard video recording protocol used to discriminate and classify tic events of high intensity and tic event of low intensity (facial grimacing or vocal tics). Double blind analysis on a nine subjects allowed us to compare the variability between operators and wearable device, and conclude the system has good potential but algorithms refinement is still needed before its possible application in clinical practice. Currently it still requires the integration with a video analysis protocol if the tics are mild or are vowels giving a complete clinical frame.