Noninvasive Electromagnetic Tracking of Upper Extremity Motion Kinetics for Patients With Severe Tremor Disorders

Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) is an effective treatment option for individuals with debilitating tremors that do not respond to medical therapy. However, severe tremors, particularly those that develop after central nervous system insult or from multiple sclerosis, can be comprised of several underlying components that represent dysfunction within distinct brain circuits. Some of these dysfunctional brain circuits can be successfully treated with DBS while others respond poorly DBS therapy. For severe tremors, it can be very difficult to discriminate between the underlying components of a patient movement disorder and is exclusively dependent upon clinical expertise. Even with extensive clinical experience, it is difficult to reliably predict the results of DBS therapy for patients suffering from severe, debilitating tremor. In an attempt to gain more knowledge, an electromagnetic tracking system will be used which can precisely measure the position of a patient's upper extremity in space during routine neurologic examination. The goal is to use this tool to quantitatively identify various components of severe tremor, which can be discriminated based on oscillatory frequency and regularity of tremor amplitude. The purpose of this research study is to better understand the nature of complex, severe tremors by carefully measuring movement of the upper extremities with sensors during simple tasks. The goal is to break down complicated tremors into their components and then determine which components will respond to deep brain stimulation.