There’s a new wearable set to make waves in the medical community, and it’s being branded as the Fitbit for tremor patients. Meet the Trequant, a watch for individuals who suffer from tremors. A Kickstarter campaign will soon launch to help bring the device to market. Designed to look like an analogue watch, the Trequant boasts much more than meets the eye — behind that watch face is a series of sensors that monitor the wearer’s tremors, which could lead to better treatment options for patients with a range of diseases from Parkinson’s to dystonia.
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While tremors tend not to be life-threatening, the medical condition is a common side effect of a number of degenerative diseases and can affect multiple parts of the body. To minimize their effects, doctors need to be able to carefully monitor their patients for signs of these uncontrollable movements. Enter Trequant, which not only records patient data, but also allows the wearer and his or her doctor to analyze and compare tremors.
“Tremors runs in my family,” said Fawad Bhatti, the founder of Trequant. “I have seen how debilitating this can be for people out there.” And so, with the help of his brother, Dr. Danish Bhatti, a neuroscientist at the Nebraska College of Medicine, the duo began developing a device that could address the problem.
Because Trequant is non-invasive and easy to use (really, you just put it on), Bhatti is confident that wearers will have little trouble reaping the benefits of this new wearable. “With the help of Trequant,” he says, “patients would not just be able to get the readings of their tremors, but they would also be able to track their tremors in different scenarios, activities, and their day-to-day behaviors.” Tracking of such things, he adds, might be used to help pinpoint potential catalysts for the tremors and help doctors prescribe the appropriate treatment.
The Trequant is currently available for preorder on Kickstarter, where the team hopes to raise TK to fund the project.
