Towards motor evaluation of Parkinson's Disease Patients using wearable inertial sensors

Abstract

Parkinson's disease (PD) patients require frequent office visits where they are assessed for health state changes using Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). Inertial wearable sensor devices present a unique opportunity to supplement these assessments with continuous monitoring. In this work, we analyze kinematic features from sensor devices located on feet, wrists, lumbar and sternum for 35 PD subjects as they performed walk trials in two clinical visits, one for each of their self-reported ON and OFF motor states. Our results show that a few features related to subject's whole-body turns and pronation-supination motor events can accurately infer cardinal features of PD like bradykinesia and posture instability and gait disorder (PIGD). In addition, these features can be measured from only two sensors, one located on the affected wrist and one on the lumbar region, thus potentially reducing patient burden of wearing sensors while supporting continuous monitoring in out of office settings.