Novel Approach to Prognosis Parkinson's Disease with Wireless Technology Using Resting Tremors

This paper investigates the objective and quantitative benefits of using wireless Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) sensors in combination with Internet of Things (IoT) for measuring the resting tremor severity in Parkinson's disease (PD) subjects to aid monitoring and prognostic purposes. Detection of tremor episodes in PD subjects using automated devices will be helpful in the early diagnosis of the disease. Thus, profound research has been reported in the development of various sensors to analyze PD tremors. However, majority of these devices are designed to be used in controlled lab environment, limiting the diagnosis in daily living conditions. In this research, a wearable glove with IMU sensor and wireless device is designed to collect the tremor intensity and disseminate the data 24/7 (Note: 10 days observation period) to the clinician with the help of IoT medium. This will assist the clinician in providing Unified Parkinson's Disease score scale (MDS-UPDRS) score recommended by the Movement Disorder Society. 30 PD subjects from SRM Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, who were diagnosed with stage-1 PD as per MDS-UPDRS score, were investigated to find the resting tremor frequency. In this study majority of them has been diagnosed to have resting tremor in the frequency range of 4-6 Hz. The Bland Altman's analysis for proportional bias and linear regression analysis was performed. The viability of continuous monitoring was comprehended by comparing the MDS-UPDRS score obtained using wearable IMU sensor and MDS-UPDRS score given by Clinician.

Automated summary

This study investigates the benefits of using wireless IMU sensors and IoT for measuring resting tremor severity in Parkinson's disease patients. A wearable glove with IMU sensor and wireless device is designed to collect and transmit the tremor data to clinicians, assisting in providing the MDS-UPDRS score. The study finds that the majority of PD patients have resting tremor in the frequency range of 4-6 Hz.