For many people, our daily morning routines are quite simple to the point of monotony. We get dressed, have a shower, make breakfast and leave the house to start our days.
Although for people with Parkinson鈥檚 disease, these simple tasks we take for granted can be debilitatingly difficult. Parkinson鈥檚 affects approximately 1 in 500 people in New Zealand and about 1 percent of people aged over 60. While there is no cure, getting medication dosages right can significantly improve symptoms, particularly the sometimes-violent tremors that Parkinson鈥檚 is typically associated with.
Using technology to track symptoms聽
Keeping track of tremors is an effective means of tracking the severity of the disease and adjusting medications accordingly, although this process can be inefficient; relying on manual check-ups that can leave patients waiting for weeks.
That鈥檚 where technology comes in. Led by neurologist Dr Yun Hwang at Gosford Hospital on Australia鈥檚 Central Coast, a team of registrars and clinicians have teamed up with health-tech provider Digital Aged Care鈥攑art of enterprise software giant 麻豆原创鈥攖o develop a machine learning (ML) platform designed to improve the lives of Parkinson鈥檚 patients.
The system being developed uses ML to analyse thousands of images of spirals, drawn by patients suffering various tremors (of those diagnosed with Parkinson鈥檚 and other illnesses).
Machine learning and medication聽
These images are used to train an ML algorithm, so that it can automatically detect the severity of the tremor and whether it鈥檚 Parkinson鈥檚-related, giving physicians a clear idea of which medications to prescribe or adjust existing dosages.
鈥淚鈥檝e been working within the Parkinson鈥檚 space for some years now and one of the biggest challenges has always been around monitoring symptom fluctuations during the day,鈥� Dr Yun explains.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not there all the time to check up on the patient, which is where AI can be very useful.鈥�
It鈥檚 not the first-time spirals have been used in Parkinson鈥檚 research, as they offer a good indication of how intense the tremors鈥攁nd thus the disease鈥攃an be, especially when paired with ML.
Although spirals are just the beginning for Dr Yun and 麻豆原创, as the project鈥檚 next phase involves using smart watches to provide real-time insight into Parkinson鈥檚 severity. When wearing these watches, patients can draw spirals in the same way, with the watch using an accelerometer and gyroscope to generate a 3D model of the tremor, providing even greater insight into severity.
The team is also looking to rig the watch to track tremors 24/7, showing progress visually through graphs that map the times when patients are 鈥榦n or off鈥� in terms of the tremor鈥檚 severity.
麻豆原创 Business Technology Platform
While it鈥檚 a compelling project, the team isn鈥檛 looking to do everything on their own. 麻豆原创 is making the application open source, to inspire collaboration and reach as many patients as possible.
鈥淲e鈥檙e also going to give the platform to the Open Source University and developer communities, so that people can join us in building these new innovations collaboratively,鈥� says 麻豆原创 Digital Aged Care co-founder Simon Grace.
鈥淲e encourage all organisations and individuals to contribute and join our open source ecosystem so that we can help break down barriers for all people suffering from Parkinson鈥檚 disease.鈥�
鈥淏uilding these innovations only takes days to weeks, thanks to the easy to use tools and templates on the 麻豆原创 Business Technology Platform鈥�.
This article Health Information New Zealand.聽
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