Wearable device for automatic detection and monitoring of freezing in Parkinson’s disease

Freezing of gait (FOG) in Parkinson’s disease (PD) is described as a short-term episode of absence or considerable decrease of movement despite the intention of moving forward. FOG is related to risk of falls and low quality of life for individuals with PD. FOG has been studied and analyzed through different techniques, including inertial movement units (IMUs) and motion capture systems (MOCAP), both along with robust algorithms. Still, there is not a standardized methodology to identify nor quantify freezing episodes (FEs). In a previous work from our group, a new methodology was developed to differentiate FEs from normal movement using position data obtained from a motion capture system. The purpose of this study is to determine if this methodology is equally effective identifying FEs when using IMUs. Twenty subjects with PD will perform two different gait-related tasks. Trials will be tracked by IMUs and filmed by a video camera; data from IMUs will be compared to the time occurrence of FEs obtained from the videos. We expect this methodology will successfully detect FEs with IMUs’ data. Results would allow the development of a wearable device able to detect and monitor FOG. It is expected that the use of this type of devices would allow clinicians to better understand FOG and improve patients’ care.