Strength training app aimed at people with Parkinson’s, MS
Intensive strength training helps activate nervous system, researchers say
A research initiative aims to create a mobile app using artificial intelligence (AI) to make strength training at home more effective for people with Parkinson’s disease and other neurological conditions.
The technology is being developed by Myworkout AS, in collaboration with the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and SINTEF, a research institute in Norway.
The Myworkout Go app, developed for cardio training, will be tweaked with new features for intensive strength training. This type of exercise, which can be done in training clinics or at home, helps activate the nervous system and boost strength. “Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and Parkinson’s can get better if they train at a high intensity, because high-intensity exercise activates the nervous system and helps to boost strength,” SINTEF said.
“The aim is for the app to be approved as a medical device that the patient can get on prescription,” Mariann Sandsund, PhD, senior researcher at SINTEF, said in a SINTEF news story. “This means it has to be very, very accurate. Among other things, we will use artificial intelligence to train it to be as precise as possible.”
The goal is for the software to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Union’s medical device regulator, SINTEF said.
Parkinson’s disease is caused by the progressive dysfunction and death of dopaminergic neurons, the nerve cells responsible for making dopamine. Dopamine is a signaling molecule involved in motor control. The disease is characterized by motor symptoms, including slowness of movements, tremors, rigidity, and balance and gait issues. Patients may also experience progressive loss of muscle mass and strength that can lead to muscle weakness, particularly in the legs.
Strength training aids nerve signaling
Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology carried out a study that demonstrated that maximal strength training helps to strengthen nerve signaling and muscular function in people with Parkinson’s.
Strength training involves using resistance, such as weights or resistance bands, to build muscle strength and endurance. The goal of intensive strength training is to challenge the muscles and promote growth by using a high weight load with few repetitions. Athletes use it to develop muscle strength without building excess muscle mass.
“We have quite a few examples of training producing good results in patients participating in studies, but they are surrounded by a lot of resources during such studies,” said Knut Løkke, co-founder and CEO of Myworkout. “We want to create something that enables them to exercise without anyone standing there, helping them.”
Leg presses, in which a person sits on a piece of gym equipment with knees bent and pushes weight with their feet until the legs are extended, were particularly effective at getting the brain to send impulses to the leg muscles, which is important to patients whose leg muscles have weakened, the researchers found. “At the gym, you can do this exercise on the gym equipment,” Sandsund said. “At home, you can do it with one-legged squats. It’s quite hard, but this is how you can achieve full activation of your nervous system if you do it the right way.”
“Research shows this form of training is especially useful for enhancing the ability of the nervous system to send impulses from the brain to the muscles,” Sandsund said. “It is precisely this signal generation and transmission that is poor in patients with … Parkinson’s disease.”
The app will record patients’ movements so it can assess muscle strength and correct movements when necessary. “It should be enough to have your phone in your pocket while you are doing the exercise,” SINTEF said. The app will also include training motivation and follow-up features, the group said.
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