A Movement-Tremors Recorder for Patients of Neurodegenerative Diseases

• Published in: IEEE transactions on instrumentation and measurement Vol. 68; no. 5; pp. 1451 - 1457
• Main Authors: Gugliandolo, Giovanni, Campobello, Giuseppe, Capra, Pier Paolo, Marino, S., Bramanti, A., Di Lorenzo, G., Donato, Nicola
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.05.2019; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Accelerometers; Algorithms; Biomedical monitoring; Bluetooth; Brain; Calibration; Central nervous system; Data compression; Data transmission; Diseases; Embedded systems; Monitoring; Motors; neurodegenerative diseases; Neurological diseases; Power consumption; Power efficiency; Signs and symptoms; Tracking; tremor evaluation; Tremors; wearable monitoring system; Wireless fidelity
• ISSN: 0018-9456; 1557-9662
• DOI: 10.1109/TIM.2019.2900141

Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer, Parkinson, motor neuron, and Chorea affect millions of people today. Their effect on the central nervous system causes the loss of brain functions as well as motor disturbances and sometimes cognitive deficits. In such a scenario, the monitoring and evaluation of early symptoms are mandatory for the improvement of the patient's quality of life. Here, the authors describe the development, the laboratory calibration, and the "in-field validation" under the medical supervision of a movement tremors recorder for subjects affected by neurodegenerative diseases. The developed device is based on an array of four accelerometers connected to an embedded development board. This system is able to monitor tremor/movement, accidental falls, and, moreover, it can track the Alzheimer subjects' geographical position. A remote supervisor can collect data from the system through Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or GSM connections. A data compression algorithm was developed directly on board in order to increase the efficiency of data transmission and reduce power consumptions.