N. Fuller, SayoStudio, courtesy Yingcheng LiuAn at-home monitoring system might help overcome some of the challenges of caring for patients with Parkinson’s disease. Because those with the neurological condition are often elderly and may need assistance traveling, getting specialized care at medical centers can be difficult.
The new study’s approach involves installing a picture-frame-sized sensor on the wall of 50 people’s homes: 34 with Parkinson’s and 16 without. The sensor produces radio waves, like an ultra-weak WiFi signal, that act as a human-detecting radar. The researchers used that radar to track walking speed, which they could average over hours or days to measure a patient’s mobility.
The at-home monitor helps avoid what’s known as the “white coat effect.” “When we are doing a test in front of a doctor, we try to perform as well as possible,” Liu says. A brief in-clinic test might reflect someone’s best effort, but not their endurance—a bit like finding a car’s maximum speed, but not its mileage.
Gait is just one approach to measuring that daily function, and previous work with the device has shown that it can also capture the full silhouette of a person–Liu says that they’re curious to find out whether it also captures stride length, hand movement, or other motor functions.The at-home monitor could also improve how to treat the illness, the researchers say.. Although Parkinson’s is incurable, its symptoms can be managed with a drug, called levodopa.
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