Smart Parkinson's Strap - To Dynamically Detect and Mitigate Tremors

AJAS · 2022 Engineering

Anushka Sridhar

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Overview

Millions of people worldwide have Parkinson’s disease, a neurodegenerative disease that causes tremors, poor coordination, and even an inability to maintain balance. There is no known cure, and there are very few treatments available that can target the physical symptoms of this disease, specifically the tremors experienced by people with Parkinson’s. Whole-body vibrational therapy has become a heavily researched topic, as it is believed to help mitigate tremors. When Parkinson’s disease begins taking a physical toll on the body, it is the result of a negative sensory feedback loop that overcompensates for the lack of dopamine by creating tremors in the hands and the body. Vibrational therapy is believed to act as “white noise” in the brain, blocking this sensory feedback loop to mitigate the symptoms of this disease. However, treatment is costly, not easily accessible, and not customizable to the individual’s needs. The design goals of the prototype were to build a non-invasive wristband that detects the onset of tremors, turns on the vibrating motors accordingly, logs the information, and sends it to a third-party cell phone. A Raspberry Pi, vibrating motors, accelerometer, relay switch, and other electronic resources were used to build the prototype. The Dallas Area Parkinsonism Society was a partner to help recruit participants to evaluate the efficacy of the vibrating wristband. The effects of the band were evaluated by the difference in the time it took for the participants to write a sentence with and without the band, and any qualitative improvements in the handwriting, which were measured using the “Pen to Print” app. The band effectively improved both the quality and speed of penmanship over 11 participants. The average time it took to write decreased by 45%, and the legibility increased from having about half the words not registered as the correct words to only having on average 1-2 words not registered correctly. For test-data collection, data from the accelerometer was used to determine the onset of tremors by sampling the change in acceleration every 0.2 seconds (or 5Hz: frequency of tremors). The best threshold to determine the onset of tremors was a change in acceleration of 1.8 over ten consecutive measurements (2-second interval). The Raspberry Pi was programmed to activate the relay switch when this threshold was met. The data was logged and sent to a smartphone. The cost of materials of this prototype was less than $40, and this prototype would significantly improve the quality of life of Parkinson’s patients.

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From the student

My Great Aunt had Parkinson's Disease, and I saw firsthand how her physical symptoms impaired her ability to do simple daily activities such as walking and standing. As I got older and continued researching Parkinson's, I learned that there's no known cure and few treatments available to mitigate the symptoms. However, whole-body vibrational therapy has become a recent topic of interest, showing promising results with mitigating tremors, but it is costly and not easily accessible. I decided that my goal was to use readily available electronic resources to build a device capable of mitigating the tremors of people with Parkinson's.

My first iteration of the prototype was a simple standalone velcro wristband that used vibrating coin motors. Starting this project off as an eighth-grader, I found it challenging to be taken seriously by organizations I reached out to. Being young and lacking experience, many of the organizations I was reaching out to for testing by device found that I lacked credibility. Luckily, I gained support from the Dallas Area Parkinsonism Society to conduct a test-data collection with their members. I gathered 10 participants, ranging from stage 1 to stage 4 of Parkinson's. I conducted a writing activity with the participants, and I was amazed to see how vibrational therapy helped mitigate their tremors, improved the quality of their handwriting, and decreased the time it took for them to write. These promising results inspired me to continue developing this prototype.

This year, I wanted to enhance the device electronically. Instead of a standalone wristband, it can detect tremors, turn on vibration accordingly, log information about the tremors, and send that information to a cellphone. Due to Covid-restrictions, I was unsure if I would be able to test the device with Parkinson's patients. I was saddened when I found out that I wouldn't be able to work for the DAPS organization due to Covid-19, but I did have two family friends with mild Parkinson's who tested the detection system's efficacy through an all-day wear test. My device worked at a near 100% accuracy rate at detecting tremors.

I was very unsure about how the science fair would work in a virtual setting, but I was incredibly excited when I found out that I would still be able to present my research through these fairs. I was lucky enough to earn the grand prize overall in the physical sciences division at the Texas Science and Engineering Fair. I was honored when I was invited to compete in the International Science and Engineering Fair, and I placed 2nd in the category of Embedded Systems. I am so grateful to have earned these opportunities, and this whole experience has fostered a passion for biomedical engineering. I hope to continue researching more about Parkinson's to see how my device can help to improve the quality of life for people with Parkinson's.