Digital health technology company NeuroRPM has received FDA 510(k) clearance for its AI-enabled remote monitoring app that utilizes an Apple Watch to track common Parkinson's symptoms such as bradykinesia, tremor and dyskinesia.

Bradykinesia is slowness of movement, and dyskinesia is involuntary or erratic movements. 

The Washington D.C.-based company's algorithms are embedded in the Apple Watch app and continuously scan the wearable device user's data to monitor such symptoms and health metrics related to Parkinson's. 

"We are thrilled to be on the new frontier of digital health with NeuroRPM. By leveraging the power of Apple Watch, we are transforming the way individuals with Parkinson's disease understand their health, enabling care providers to make more informed clinical decisions which will lead to better health outcomes. We are honored to help drive this revolution in healthcare," said Atila Omer, president at NeuroRPM. 

THE LARGER TREND

Another digital health company using the Apple Watch to monitor patients with Parkinson's is brain-data startup Rune Labs. 

Last year, Rune scored FDA 510(k) clearance for its StrivePD app, which uses Apple's Movement Disorder API to track tremors and dyskinesia. Patients can also use StrivePD to log their medications, side effects and other symptoms. 

Earlier this month, Rune announced a partnership with BlueRock Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company and a subsidiary of Bayer AG, to aid in studying Parkinson's disease using its StrivePD platform. 

Other companies looking to help people with neurodegenerative movement disorders are Maine-based prescription digital therapeutics startup MedRhythms, which seeks to improve mobility in people with multiple sclerosis, and London-based SERG Technologies, which offers wearable sensor technologies to monitor the symptom severity of Parkinson's disease.  

Tracy Chu will offer more detail during her HIMSS23 session "Automation Improves Digital Education App Performance." It is scheduled for Wednesday, April 19 at 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. CT at the South Building, Level 5, room S505.