You may have heard a lot about "big data" lately. But who can actually benefit from big data analysis? For Intel, the answer is Parkinson's patients.

In collaboration with the Michael J. Fox Foundation, Intel is exploring a way to improve the monitoring and treatment of Parkinson's disease by collecting medical data from patients with wearable devices.

The data, more than 300 observations per second from each patient, will then be stored and analyzed on Intel's big data analytics platform, which is designed to detect patterns in the collected data. The platform will be open to Parkinson's community of physicians and researchers.

"The variability in Parkinson's symptoms creates unique challenges in monitoring progression of the disease," said Diane Bryant, senior vice president and general manager of Intel's Data Center Group.

The potential to collect and analyze data from thousands of individuals on measurable features of Parkinson's, such as slowness of movement, tremor and sleep quality, could enable researchers to assemble a better picture of the clinical progression of the disease.

"As more data is made available to the medical community, it may also point to currently unidentified features of the disease that could lead to new areas of research," added Bryant.

Intel and the Michael J. Fox Foundation initiated a study earlier this year to evaluate the usability and accuracy of wearable devices for tracking and collecting data. Participants included 16 Parkinson's patients and nine control volunteers.

Currently, Intel's data scientists are analyzing that data while developing algorithms intended to measure symptoms and disease progression.

Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative brain disease second only to Alzheimer's in worldwide prevalence.