Microsoft, Novartis partner for multiple sclerosis tracking: 6 observations

Microsoft and Novartis AG are collaborating to create a camera system which can track the progress of patients’ multiple sclerosis, according to Arkansas Online.

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Here are six observations:

 

1. The camera system, AssessMS, will use Microsoft’s Kinect motion camera and machine learning software to analyze movements.

 

2. Since MS changes rapidly in patients, physicians could benefit from a disease tracker, instead of relying on physical movement tests repeated every three months to six months.

 

3. Physicians often vary in how they quantify symptoms. If a patient sees a different physician at every appointment, their symptoms may not actually be changing, but rather the physician scores it differently.

 

4. Microsoft is working with European MS clinics to evaluate patients’ movements with the Kinetic camera. Patients extend their arms and touch their nose, as the camera collects data.

 

5. The software has already analyzed 150 videos to 300 videos for each movement, enhancing its ability to precisely score impairment. Microsoft plans to work with five more clinics in 2016 to further enhance the software’s algorithms.

 

6. If the researchers can prove the camera’s ability to track small movements as well as the human eye, Novartis will present the technology for clinical validation.

 

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