Contributor: How Remote Care Is Changing Parkinson Treatment

Living with Parkinson disease presents daily challenges that may significantly impact a person’s life. Managing this progressive condition often requires frequent medical visits and a regimented schedule of prescription medications. Symptoms, such as tremor, stiffness, and pain, may return if a dose is missed or delayed. As a result, many people living with this disease feel tethered to their medication schedules and concerned about the potential consequences of a missed dose.

Fortunately, as our understanding of movement disorders, such as Parkinson disease, and their symptoms has deepened, treatment options have also advanced. Today, as a supplement to medication, people living with Parkinson can opt for neuromodulation therapy—specifically, deep brain stimulation (DBS) to help manage their symptoms. Approved by the FDA for the treatment of Parkinson disease in 2002, DBS works by delivering electrical signals to the brain to regulate the abnormal activity responsible for motor symptoms like tremors.¹

Although DBS presents a valuable option for thousands of people living with Parkinson disease, accessing this therapy can be difficult. Only a limited number of doctors specialize in neuromodulation, often resulting in patients traveling several hours over long distances just to see their specialist. The travel can be especially burdensome during the DBS optimization phase, which may require multiple programming sessions to tailor the therapy to a patient’s unique needs. Studies show that more than a third of people with Parkinson struggle to get to a clinic; many must rely on friends, family, and others in their support network to help with their appointments—adding another barrier to care access.^2,3

Innovations in digital health and remote programming, like Abbott’s NeuroSphere Virtual Clinic, can make a meaningful difference to bridge these gaps. This connected care technology expands access to care such that patients can connect with their physicians remotely in a timely manner and are thus optimized on DBS faster.

What is NeuroSphere Virtual Clinic?

NeuroSphere Virtual Clinic technology launched in 2021 as the first and only FDA-approved solution of its kind, revolutionizing neuromodulation treatment and making care more accessible for patients—regardless of how far they live from their provider. The digital health tool reduces barriers to care by allowing people who have Abbott’s Bluetooth-enabled neuromodulation system to communicate with their doctors and remotely receive updates to their stimulation therapy while being evaluated by their specialist. Since it was first introduced in the US, it has been approved for use in more than 19 countries, and tens of thousands of remote programming sessions have been conducted with patients.

How Does Remote Care Impact Parkinson Outcomes?

To better understand the benefits of connected care technology, we ran a study, remote optimization, adjustment, and measurement for DBS (ROAM-DBS; NCT05269862), which evaluated how a connected care platform affects treatment outcomes for people with Parkinson. All participants were implanted with the Infinity DBS device; half of the patients had access to NeuroSphere Virtual Clinic, while the other half required an in-clinic visit for any DBS programming adjustments to manage their symptoms.

The results were remarkable. Participants with access to NeuroSphere Virtual Clinic reported symptom improvement significantly sooner (15.1 days) compared with those with only in-clinic access. They also reported quality-of-life improvements at 1 month versus their counterparts who reported improvements at 3 months; these benefits were sustained through a longer 6-month and 12-month follow-up.^4,5

Connected care also reduced the time and effort required to optimize therapy. On average, in-clinic patients traveled more than 60 miles one-way and spent just over 15 hours (including travel and preparation) to complete their DBS adjustments. In contrast, those using NeuroSphere Virtual Clinic completed the same process in just over 48 minutes—a dramatic reduction in time and burden.⁴

What Do These Results Mean?

Connected care technology, such as NeuroSphere Virtual Clinic, essentially puts the doctor at a person’s fingertips, enabling them to receive care from almost anywhere in the world. As the ROAM study clearly demonstrates, this type of access not only provides the same quality of care as in-clinic visits, but it can also help people with Parkinson achieve symptom improvement faster, all while avoiding the physical and logistical burden of traveling to a specialist.⁴

Clinicians also found value in connected care technology. Though some clinicians may prefer face-to-face interactions, they reported that with the right tools, remote adjustments of DBS parameters were as effective as in-clinic follow-ups and far more efficient.⁴

Ultimately, the ROAM-DBS study highlights the importance of expanding health care beyond conventional clinic walls. Managing chronic conditions is debilitating; hence, it is important to instill hope that timely symptom relief is possible. Digital health tools are the key to that hope, transforming care and making therapy accessible for all people.

References

1. Miocinovic S, Somayajula S, Chitnis S, Vitek JL. History, applications, and mechanisms of deep brain stimulation. JAMA Neurol. 2013;70(2):163-171. doi:10.1001/2013.jamaneurol.45
2. Statistics. Parkinson’s Foundation. Accessed April 1, 2026. https://www.parkinson.org/understanding-parkinsons/statistics
3. Esper CD, Merola A, Himes L, et al. Necessity and feasibility of remote tele-programming of deep brain stimulation systems in Parkinson's disease. Parkinsonism Relat Disord. 2022;96:38-42. doi:10.1016/j.parkreldis.2022.01.017
4. Gharabaghi A, Groppa S, Navas-Garcia M, et al. Accelerated symptom improvement in Parkinson’s disease via remote internet-based optimization of deep brain stimulation therapy: a randomized controlled multicenter trial. Commun Med. 2025;5(1):31. doi:10.1038/s43856-025-00744-7
5. Gharabaghi A, Groppa S, Casas E, et al. Real-world multicenter assessment of sustained clinical outcomes after digital deep brain stimulation. npj Digit Med. 2026;9(1):133. doi:10.1038/s41746-025-02315-5