Courtesy of Getty Image Bank
–
–
A device that measures the distance traveled or the amount of movement of a patient with Parkinson’s disease was developed by exploiting the nature of the reflection of radio waves when they hit a person’s body. This device, which does not require a separate attachment, is able to detect movement in the room simply by installing it in the house as a “WiFi router”. It is expected to be useful in patient management as it can easily check how advanced the symptoms of Parkinson’s are, such as tremors or slow movements when walking.
According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States on the 26th, a research group led by Professor Ying Cheng Liu of the Department of Electrical Engineering has developed a “smart gait tracker” that measures the movement of a patient with Parkinson’s on the way home) was announced.
The research team paid attention to the nature of the reflection of radio waves hitting the human body to measure the gait or speed of movement of Parkinson’s patients when they usually stay at home. If radio waves are continuously emitted within the space where the patient is, they are reflected at different angles depending on the person’s movement.
The “Smart Walk Tracker” developed by the research team can be installed inside as a Wi-Fi router to detect the movement of radio waves hitting a person’s body in real time. According to the research team, the amount of radio waves emitted by this device is one thousandth of that of a home WiFi machine. The movement of a person in a normal-sized house can be detected regardless of the presence of walls or obstacles.
To test whether the gait tracker actually detects changes in gait or gait speed, the research team used the device for a year in 34 people with Parkinson’s disease and 16 healthy people.
As a result, the gait tracker was able to collect more than 200,000 gait data that can confirm the degree of progression of Parkinson’s disease. It was checked whether the patient’s movement speed slowed or how many tremors occurred during the movement process. She also noted how agile movements were compared to those before administration when the drug was given for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.
The research team said: “During the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19, Corona 19), the expansion of social distancing measures made it difficult for patients to visit hospitals. It will help with management.”
–
