A review of assistive technologies for people with Parkinson's disease

Abstract

The population is aging and with this, the incidence of age related diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD) are increasing. Assistive Technology (AT) is viewed as one of the possible solutions which can be used to meet the needs of persons suffering from PD. AT can enable a person to carry out a task which otherwise they would be unable to undertake independently. An AT can have many functions which range from helping people to use a computer, to monitoring someone's condition. Within this paper we attempt to categorise the different types of AT for persons with PD. Each of the technologies will be compared and contrasted and an overview of what is currently available presented. The paper concludes with some visionary comments on how the current levels of AT may change in the future.

Testing the contributions of striatal dopamine loss to the genesis of parkinsonian signs

“…Similarly, PD patients are particularly impaired at initiating and executing internally-generated movements (Cooke et al, 1978; Flowers, 1976; Morris et al, 1996; Oliveira et al, 1997). The importance of this specific impairment in the overall disability of PD is highlighted by the success of assistive technologies that provide external sensory cues during activities that would otherwise require self-initiated movements (Arias and Cudeiro, 2010; Bachlin et al, 2010; Cunningham et al, 2009). …”

On the usefulness of off-the-shelf computer peripherals for people with Parkinson’s Disease

“…Parkinson's Disease is caused by a disorder of the central nervous system affecting the mid-brain, which is responsible for the control of movement [8]. The illness affects one in 500 people [22].…”

“…It leads to a number of symptoms, such as tremors, muscle stiffness and rigidity, pain, reduced and slowed motor skills (akinesia/bradykinesia), reduced balance, coordination difficulties and resulting clumsiness, dementia-related symptoms, weakened voice, visual disturbances and lack of energy. Often, loss of finger dexterity and of hand/finger placement control are experienced [8]. Cognitive symptoms often include apathy and memory impairment, such as reduced short term memory, attention and concentration [17].…”

Assistive strategies for people with fine motor skills impairments based on an analysis of sub-movements

“…Dexterous movements are required to perform certain tasks with input devices. For both disabled individuals and older adults it can be difficult to perform these kinds of movements [12].…”

“…By definition, an assistive device is "any device that allows an individual to perform a task they would otherwise be unable to do" [12]. But what about devices to help individuals with the use of their computers?…”