Could New Generations of Sensors Reshape the Management of Parkinson’s Disease?

Abstract

PD is a chronic neurologic disease that has a great impact on the patient’s quality of life. The natural course of the disease is characterized by an insidious onset of symptoms, such as rest tremor, shuffling gait, bradykinesia, followed by improvement with the initiation of dopaminergic therapy. However, this “honeymoon period” gradually comes to an end with the emergence of motor fluctuations and dyskinesia. PD patients need long-term treatments and monitoring throughout the day; however, clinical examinations in hospitals are often not sufficient for optimal management of the disease. Technology-based devices are a new comprehensive assessment method of PD patient’s symptoms that are easy to use and give unbiased measurements. This review article provides an exhaustive overview of motor complications of advanced PD and new approaches to the management of the disease using sensors.

Assessment Tasks and Virtual Exergames for Remote Monitoring of Parkinson’s Disease: An Integrated Approach Based on Azure Kinect

“…Over the past decade, several studies have proposed technological solutions to objectively assess motor tasks and analyze specific characteristics of human body motion [ 40 , 41 ]. Wearable devices (including inertial sensors, accelerometers, and smartphones) [ 42 ] and optical approaches (including RGB-Depth cameras) [ 43 ] have recently been used to implement low-cost and minimally invasive solutions to characterize movement disorders and motor patterns, providing measurements with accuracy comparable to the gold standard systems (such as optoelectronic systems) typically used in clinical or research settings.…”

Assessment Tasks and Virtual Exergames for Remote Monitoring of Parkinson’s Disease: An Integrated Approach based on Azure Kinect

“…Over the past decade, several studies have proposed technological solutions to objectively assess motor tasks and analyze specific characteristics of human body motion [40,41]. Wearable devices (including inertial sensors, accelerometers, and smartphones) [42] and optical approaches (including RGB-Depth cameras) [43] have recently been used to implement low-cost and minimally invasive solutions to characterize movement disorders and motor patterns, providing measurements with comparable accuracy to gold standard systems (such as optoelectronic systems) typically used in clinical or research settings.…”