Prototype of a system to monitor motor symptoms in people with Parkinson's disease

Authors

Peña, Lissette

Sáez, Yessica

Collado, Edwin

Abstract

Parkinson's Disease (PD) is a chronic neurodegenerative disorder that can lead to total disability over the years. It is the second most common neurodegenerative disease in the world after Alzheimer's and to date its cause and a treatment to cure it are unknown. Initially, the disease is difficult to diagnose, but from a clinical perspective it is known that there are four essential symptoms: rigidity, tremor at rest, bradykinesia, and postural alterations. These symptoms influence the initial diagnosis and decision-making about the treatment to be followed by the medical staff. The use of technology can be used as a contribution to improve the quality of life of people with PD. Among others, the monitoring of involuntary tremors in the patient's extremities that allows the specialist doctor to identify the degree of progress of the disease and determine the most appropriate dose and medication for it, is considered as a contribution. This is because, on the one hand, people with this disease find it difficult to explain to the doctor about the intensity and frequency of tremors, and on the other hand, especially in Panama, doctors do not have a previous history that contains precise on these important parameters to make a diagnosis or prescribe a new dose or medication The objective of this project is the design and implementation of a system that allows monitoring motor fluctuations (tremors) in patients' upper extremities and recording the exact moment when people with PD take their medications, allowing the doctor to analyze the therapeutic effect of the drugs in each patient and adjust the doses according to each need. The creation of a prototype is proposed that will make use of IoT components and electronic elements such as sensors, microcontroller, accelerometers, etc., that allow the monitoring of the tremors of people with PD. All the data read by the prototype will be sent to a data visualization platform to which both people with PD and their relatives and doctors will have access. All this information will undoubtedly allow the doctor to analyze the behavior and progress of their patients in order to make the necessary adjustments in treatment that help improve the patient's quality of life and optimize the use of health system resources.