News: Apple’s New ResearchKit API Monitors 🔎 Parkinson’s Disease Symptoms on Apple Watch ⌚

Apple is adding a new "Movement Disorder API" to its open-source ResearchKit framework that will allow Apple Watch to continuously monitor Parkinson's disease symptoms.


To achieve this the API will monitor two very common symptoms of Parkinson's including Tremors, indicated by shaking and quivering detected by the Apple Watch, and Dyskinesia, a side-effect of treatments for Parkinson's that causes fidgeting and swaying motions in patients.

Apps would then be able to present the data for patients and physicians in a graph to see not only daily breakdowns but also hourly and by the minute fluctuations of symptoms (as shown in the demo app pictured at top).

Apple first announced ResearchKit back in March of 2015 and since has detailed how researchers have been using it effectively for studies on sleep health, concussions, autism, epilepsy melanoma, Parkinson's disease, and much more.

Notably for Parkinson's disease in relation to the introduction of the new Movement Disorder API, iPhone app mPower boasts over 10,000 participants which Apple notes makes it "the largest Parkinson's study in history."