About Us
Summary:
iNeuroskill is a subsidiary of VeriFax Corporation. After more than 10 years in the making and representing a technological breakthrough, Neuroskilltm is a product that measures and records an individual's fine motor control characteristics in real time. The application includes a web portal that prompts a patient to enroll a sample of their handwriting using a signature tablet to provide several handwriting samples and record their daily medications. In return the user receives immediate feedback regarding their fine motorl control.
Currently, the primary outcome measure of Parkisnon's disease is the UPDRS -- Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale. The UPDRS rates the severity of each known PD sympton on a scale from zero (normal) to four (sever impariment) and includes motor section -- UPDRS III. The UPDRS has many drawbacks of rating scales that include inter-rater variability, subjective opinion, insenstivitity to subtle changes, and a tendency to emphasize particular aspects of the disorder.
Moroever, the evaluation of the UPDRS requires substanital time: Section III -- motor evaulation could take in excess of 20 minutes. And the UPDRS test is typically administered a couple of times a year during office visits.
In contrast, the Neuroskill device can provide a quantitative assessment of the patient's fine motor control and do so in under 2 minutes, all within the privacy of the doctor's office or patient's home! Moreover, in clinical trials, the Neuroskill technology has demonstrated a close correlation with the UPDRS motor section (UPDRS III).
Among numerous indicators of Parkinson's disease, the impairment in a person's handwriting represents the first and often pre-clinical sign of the disease. Thus, Neuroskill provides a real-time quantitative assessment of fine motor control through processing the person's handwriting dynamic signals. The Neuroskill criteria of motor control are presented numerically and are graphed onto a chart for easy viewing and analysis.
Technology:
Neuroskill employs an innovative, patented technology for Correlation Function Analysis (CFA) of behavioral signals. The method takes as its input precise measurements of handwriting dynamics, such as acceleration and pressure, and returns values of criteria for stability, smoothness and synchronization of handwriting movements. In clinical trials conducted under IRB approved protocols at the Colorado Neurological Institute, the Neuroskill method has proved its sensitivity in measuring fine motor control of Parkinson's disease patients as function of L-dopa medication they received. The device measured changes in the patients' fine motor control before and after medications.
The Neuroskill platform is a combination of a digital handwriting tablet or instrumented pen and Neuroskill's proprietary software that offers health care providers and their patients an objective and sensitive quantitative tool to monitor the changes in fine motor control by analyzing the handwriting dynamics of the patient throughout the day. Such information can assist neurologists and other health care providers in prescribing a proper medication regimen to achieve the most effective medical therapy for the patient.
Awards/Grants:
The Neuroskill technology was presented at several international congresses and honored by the International Federation of Parkinson's Disease Foundation with a Melvin Yahr Award at the XVI International Congress on PD.
Development of this technology & product has been supported by grants from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) as well as NASA.