Development of method for quantifying essential tremor using a small optical device
Journal
Journal of Neuroscience Methods
Journal Volume
266
Pages
78-83
Date Issued
2016
Author(s)
Abstract
Background: Clinical assessment scales are the most common means used by physicians to assess tremor severity. Some scientific tools that may be able to replace these scales to objectively assess the severity, such as accelerometers, digital tablets, electromyography (EMG) measurement devices, and motion capture cameras, are currently available. However, most of the operational modes of these tools are relatively complex or are only able to capture part of the clinical information; furthermore, using these tools is sometimes time consuming. Currently, there is no tool available for automatically quantifying tremor severity in clinical environments. New method: We aimed to develop a rapid, objective, and quantitative system for measuring the severity of finger tremor using a small portable optical device (Leap Motion). Results: A single test took 15 s to conduct, and three algorithms were proposed to quantify the severity of finger tremor. The system was tested with four patients diagnosed with essential tremor. Comparison with existing method: The proposed algorithms were able to quantify different characteristics of tremor in clinical environments, and could be used as references for future clinical assessments. Conclusions: A portable, easy-to-use, small-sized, and noncontact device (Leap Motion) was used to clinically detect and record finger movement, and three algorithms were proposed to describe tremor amplitudes. ? 2016 Elsevier B.V.
SDGs
Other Subjects
aged; algorithm; Article; automation; case report; disease severity assessment; essential tremor; female; finger; finger tremor; human; intermethod comparison; male; optical instrumentation; priority journal; quantitative analysis; accelerometry; algorithm; devices; essential tremor; feasibility study; pathophysiology; procedures; severity of illness index; signal processing; tremor; validation study; Accelerometry; Aged; Algorithms; Essential Tremor; Feasibility Studies; Female; Fingers; Humans; Male; Optical Devices; Severity of Illness Index; Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; Tremor
Publisher
Elsevier B.V.
Type
journal article