Research: Measuring Fatigue

Epub: Yu et al. A wireless body measurement system to study fatigue in multiple sclerosis. Physiol Meas. 2012;33(12):2033-2048. 

Fatigue is reported as the most common symptom by patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). The physiological and functional parameters related to fatigue in MS patients are currently not well established. A new wearable wireless body measurement system, named Fatigue Monitoring System (FAMOS), was developed to study fatigue in MS. It can continuously measure electrocardiogram, body-skin temperature, electromyogram and motions of feet. The goal of this study is to test the ability of distinguishing fatigued MS patients from healthy subjects by the use of FAMOS. This paper presents the realization of the measurement system including the design of both hardware and dedicated signal processing algorithms. Twenty-six participants including 17 MS patients with fatigue and 9 sex- and age-matched healthy controls were included in the study for continuous 24 h monitoring. The preliminary results show significant differences between fatigued MS patients and healthy controls. In conclusion, the FAMOS enables continuous data acquisition and estimation of multiple physiological and functional parameters. It provides a new, flexible and objective approach to study fatigue in MS, which can distinguish between fatigued MS patients and healthy controls. The usability and reliability of the FAMOS should however be further improved and validated through larger clinical trials.


Get the system improved so that it is an available tool to measure fatigue, which is very high on the list of problems with MS, but very under investigated. However, with tools to monitor are a step towards being able to treat. Part of the slowness in progress in MS is the lack of responsive outcomes

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