A recent study published by Dr. Leigh Charvet and colleagues at NYU Langone Health explored the use of tDCS intervention for Parkinson’s disease in a home setting with remote supervision from technicians.
tDCS is thought to promote increased brain plasticity, so tDCS is observed to be most effective in improving mood and training outcomes when applied repeatedly and periodically to the patient. This means patient compliance to the treatment protocol is key in achieving optimal treatment outcomes– however patients prefer to not travel for their periodic treatment sessions.
Dr. Charvet and colleagues developed a method for delivering tDCS treatment remotely using RS-tDCS (remotely supervised transcranial direct current stimulation), where a videoconference-styled interface is used in order to replicate in-clinic tDCS administration practices. Technicians can remotely provide real-time instruction and monitoring to ensure treatment protocols are properly adhered to and clinical standards are maintained even at a home setting. Each tDCS device is locked by a programmable dose-release code that are one-time-use only; when safety checks are complete, the technicians verbally give the patient the dose-release code– at which point the patient enters the code and the stimulation session begins.
Patient compliance to treatment protocols were seen to significantly improve as they preferred treatment in the comfort of their home as opposed to in the clinic.
For more on this, click the link to the full article below:
https://blogs.biomedcentral.com/on-medicine/2018/12/10/home-treatment-parkinsons-disease-remotely-supervised-brain-stimulation/
