A real-time tracking system for tremor and trajectory estimation in Parkinson’s disease affected patients

The paper proposes a first step toward the realization of a low cost and scalable clinical device to monitor the evolution of Parkinson’s disease based on magnetic measurements. The main aim of the overall research project is the realization of an Internet-connected device able to allow the execution of standardized tests and to share results with specialized medical centers. At this stage, the system has been focused on two parameters useful for medical exams: tremor and hands trajectory. This paper describes the realized set-up based on fixed receiving coils and one mobile transmitting coil. It reports preliminary experimental results based on a robotic arm adopted as a reference. Obtained results clearly show the capability of the realized system to accurately estimate both the tremor frequency and the hand trajectory, even if high levels of tremor are applied.