According to a recent study that was presented during the annual meeting the Acoustical Society of America, a new type of smart phone technology is now being developed for patients with muscular dystrophy that could help them potentially assess the effectiveness of their treatment regimen.
Michael Hughes from the Pacific Northwest national laboratory said that patients with muscular dystrophy often have a hard time keeping track of the effectiveness of their medications. Hughes is part of the team that is developing an ultrasound technique that, they say, could easily be integrated into smart phones, or some other handheld device, and will allow the patients to determine their real-time response to medication.
The research team explained that in a patient with muscular dystrophy, the muscles become weak because they are pervaded with fat cells. Using the ultrasound technology that they have developed, patients will now be able to recognize the difference between healthy muscles, damaged muscles, and treated muscles. During the animal studies, the team said that large amounts of data were required throughout the treatment as a basis of comparison, but they now need to find a way to produce the same results in human subjects without having to gather as much so that the technology could be incorporated seamlessly with smart phones.
Muscular dystrophy is a progressive disease that is made up of a group of illnesses that are able to weaken the muscles in the patient's body. The most common form of this condition is Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) that affects 1 in 3,500 boys annually. Girls rarely develop this condition. At the moment, there is no cure for muscular dystrophy but steroid therapy is indicated for slowing down muscle degeneration. Although effective, the use of steroids to manage this condition has produced some serious side effects, particularly when they are taken and higher dosages. As such, it is recommended that patients only take the steroids when necessary.