Team: Ashlee Horn, Jeff Hsiao, Katherine Spack, Alex Takahashi
Client: Dr. Cong Zhi Zhao, MD, Neurologist, UCSF Fresno
Problem: Parkinson’s symptoms and drug usage aren’t tracked accurately, resulting in a significant amount of time being taken to find a stable drug regimen.
Needs Statement: A tool to accurately record patients’ symptoms which delays the determination of a stable drug regimen by a neurologist. This solution simplifies symptom monitoring, enabling neurologists to quickly identify an effective treatment regimen for the patient.
Purpose:
Parkinson’s disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disease and affects 10 million people across the globe. Symptoms are particularly debilitating physically and emotionally; these include tremors, slowness, instability, fatigue, depression, and anxiety. On top of this, patients follow a strict daily drug regimen of up to twenty pills per day. Treatment plans are individualized to maximize the drug effectiveness while minimizing adverse reactions. As the disease progresses, treatment plans have to be adjusted. This process takes between three to six months due to factors including low patient compliance, subjective data, and inaccurate symptom logging. Often, patients do not have any records of whether or not they were experiencing symptoms, and can only give general, non-detailed information of their progression since their last visit. Caretakers will occasionally misreport the symptoms of the patient by either minimizing or exaggerating the impact Parkinson’s has on the patient’s daily lives. As it stands, the technology used to track symptoms and drug usage is inconvenient.
Population: Parkinson’s patients with tremor symptoms adjusting drug regimens.
Outcome: Reduce the amount of time for patients to attain a stable drug regimen.