Parkinsons Disease (PD) is the most rampantly growing neurodegenerative disease, yet it has no specific diagnostic test. This is primarily due to the fact that many symptoms that occur in the early stages of the disease, such as dysphonia and tremor, remain misunderstood.
The purpose of Cepha is to collect more data about these symptoms in order to gain a better understanding of their unique manifestations in PD and to determine if a smartphone can accurately collect symptomatic data.
To join this study, you must
● Be 18 or older
● Have 5 minutes of uninterrupted time to spare before
beginning each session
● Have a working Wi-Fi connection before beginning each session
● Have a personal iPhone 6 or newer, running iOS 13.0 or above
Though this study will be ongoing, participants must only participate in one session, after which they can choose repeat sessions, or exit all windows of the app. Each session should take no more than five minutes to complete, so if a participant chooses to only participate in one session, after five minutes of completing activities, they may delete the app.
Participants will be instructed to complete a series of five activities. All activities are 10 seconds long.
● Participants will sustain the short a (ă) vowel to measure PD-
related dysphonia.
● Participants will place their smartphone in their left hand and rest it on
their lap to measure PD-related left rest tremor.
● Participants will place their smartphone in their right hand and rest it on
their lap to measure PD-related right rest tremor.
● Participants will place their smartphone in their left hand, holding it face
down at shoulder level, to measure PD-related left postural tremor.
● Participants will place their smartphone in their right hand, holding it face
down at shoulder level, to measure PD-related right postural tremor.
Sensors (microphone, accelerometer) will be used to collect data. All data collection will occur anonymously and files will be de-identified for participant security purposes, our utmost priority. Participants can withdraw from this study at any time by exiting or deleting the app before prompted to contribute data. Their data will immediately be destroyed.
Ultimately, we aim to use all collected data to create fast and accessible PD diagnostic tools that may accelerate early intervention in the disease. We welcome all who are eligible to participate because the more data we collect, the more accurate diagnostic tools can be created. Even those not affected by PD are eligible to contribute and help in the global effort to combat this disease.