Itching can afflict a patient and can be as debilitating as chronic pain. However, it is a difficult symptomatology to measure. This is especially true for the 10 million US children with atopic dermatitis, also known as eczema. They cannot always verbalize or quantify their suffering through research or scales. In addition, it can be difficult to objectively measure itching in adults with liver disease, kidney disease, and certain cancers that experience the condition. As a result, it is difficult to track how well a treatment or drug is working. But now there is a soft, wearable sensor developed by scientists at Northwestern University that actually quantifies itching by measuring scratches on the hand. Tested in patients with atopic dermatitis, it can be used in any condition that causes itching. New sensors can support clinical trials of new therapies, track treatment responses, and monitor disease exacerbations. All this is done at home. This image shows two ADAM sensors that measure scratch and sleep quality in children with eczema. This is the first sensor that can capture all forms of scratches related to finger, wrist and elbow movements. It was also the first to verify symptoms such as atopic dermatitis in the most common pediatric population. “Itching afflicts so many patients in so many conditions that it can be as debilitating as chronic pain,” said an assistant professor of dermatology and pediatrics at Northwestern University’s Fineberg School of Medicine. The lead author, Dr. Shuai “Steve” Xu, said. “If we can accurately quantify scratches, we can objectively quantify itching, which is very much for patients, such as children, who cannot always express or quantify pain. It is important.” The paper will be published on April 30 Science Advances.. Xu is also an assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Northwestern University’s Department of Applied Sciences in McCormick Engineering and a medical director at the Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics. About 10 million US children suffer from atopic dermatitis. Characteristic symptoms are sleep disorders, impaired neurocognitive development, and itching that, on average, leads to sleep loss overnight. “Atopic dermatitis is not just itching of the skin,” says Xu. “This is a devastating and devastating illness around the world. The quality of life of severe atopic dermatitis (for parents as well as children) is comparable to many life-threatening illnesses. “Patients with atopic dermatitis are 44% more likely to report suicidal ideation as a result of itching compared to controls. Therefore, the ability to quantify symptoms is that new drugs are approved. It’s very important not only to help but also to support your daily life. In some respects, it’s like measuring itching in diabetes … Measuring itching in patients with atopic dermatitis is just as important. It may be important. “ Dr. Amy Parlor, director of dermatology at Northwestern University, said: “Itching, which defines eczema and has the greatest impact on quality of life, is nothing more important than measuring the effectiveness of a drug against eczema. This sensor is especially important in this regard, especially for children. May play a role. “ In addition, clinicians and parents can track how well the itching of patients at home is controlled to monitor treatment responses and early signs of exacerbation of the disease. This sensor is a machine learning that specifically identifies scratches without being fooled by movements related to similar movements (eg, waving) with advances in soft and flexible electronics that seamlessly wrap around the hand. Fuse with the algorithm. The sensor measures both low-frequency motion and high-frequency vibration from the hand, greatly improving accuracy compared to watch tools. The sensor has been accepted by the Food and Drug Administration’s Drug Discovery Tools program. The program allows new devices such as this sensor to qualify to assist in the approval of new drugs. The study was conducted in two parts. The first part involved training the sensor to pick up scratches from healthy adults with spontaneous scratching behavior. In the second part, we tested the sensors of pediatric patients with atopic dermatitis. My parents set up an infrared camera that acts as a “gold standard.” We then used algorithms and sensors to count the scratches on this pediatric patient population. Over 300 hours of sleep data were manually reviewed, scored for scratches, and linked to the sensor. Source
