Wireless medical sensor measurements of fatigue in patients with multiple sclerosis

This paper presents our experience with developing a portable wireless medical sensor device. We use National Instruments (NI) devices and LabView for measurements studying fatigue of patients suffering multiple sclerosis (MS). Fatigue is a very frequent symptom perceived by MS patients, but the disease mechanism is poorly understood. Many efforts have been made to increase the understanding of this complex phenomenon. It has been found that fatigue might be associated with abnormalities in various anatomical brain areas. Also some secondary factors, not directly related to the disease, such as depression, sleep disorder, severe pain, use of medication and psychological factors might be of importance. However, the relationship with physiological parameters and motion activities in MS patients with fatigue across time are still unknown. Therefore, we hypothesize that we could provide a new assessment of fatigue in MS besides the questionnaires that are currently employed. Furthermore we can discover more secondary factors contributing to fatigue by measuring and monitoring a battery of physiological parameters over an extended time span (e.g. 48 hours) in MS patients without disturbing their normal life behavior. We have developed wireless medical sensor devices and conducted the following, namely Electrocardiograph, body skin temperature, eye movement detection, Electromyograph, motion detection, and muscle strength. In this paper, we describe the technology and design procedures of each measurement and present data from the first two test patients.