It will not be good to download notes, but a three -dimensional printed pen is full of magnetic ink can help identify people with Parkinson’s disease, as a small experimental study indicates.
It is believed that more than 10 million people worldwide live with Parkinson’s, a nervous degenerative disorder with symptoms including tremors, hardness, slow movement and movement difficulties. Although there is no treatment, early diagnosis can help those affected by support and accessories earlier.
However, the team that is behind the new diagnostic methods based on the notes of motor symptoms is often ineffective and lacking objectivity, while those based on vital indicators-such as the levels of materials in the sperm-often include specialized equipment and highly training health care professionals.
They now say they have developed a pen that can pick up bad movement signs to determine whether the individual Parkinson has.
Professor John Chen, co -author of the study of the University of California, Los Angeles, said, adding that “the system is very costly effective and can be completely accessible to low -income countries,” adding that the system will be linked to the phone application to analyze the results.
Writing in Nature Chemical EngineeringThe researchers reported how to create a pen with a soft silio tip, which is included in the magnetic molecules. Then the pen was loaded with ink that contains small floating molecules that were cleaned by the edge.
When the pen is applied to the surface, the magnetic properties of the edge change. This, in addition to the dynamic movement of ink during handwriting, produces an effort in a metal file inside the pen, which leads to current signals, which are recorded.
“We use a handwritten electrical signal to measure the tremor while [writing]Chen said.
The team found the signals made when the participants drew wavy lines, whirlpool or writing – on the surface and air – in the air – accurately seized the movements.
Then they used a variety of automated learning models – a type of artificial intelligence – to classify manual writing signals of 16 participants, three of whom have Parkinson’s disease. The researchers found that after training, one of the models was able to distinguish patients with Parkinson’s and healthy participants with an average accuracy of 96.22 %.
Chrystalina Antoniades, associate professor of clinical neuroscience at Oxford University, who did not participate in the work, said that people with Parkinson’s hand line often developed smaller than usual – although this was often seen once the symptoms of the condition begin.
But while Antinodis said that the approach based on the pen was interesting and interesting, it added that more tests were needed, and that many other methods of early diagnosis of Parkinson’s company were also under development.
“What I always say is that you can only get a single biological sign. This is this [pen] Antoniadis said: “Diagnosing the problem in handwriting, which is just one of the many symptoms that we see in our patients. But it can complete what we have already found, and capturing something that may be difficult to see,” Anthonys said.
Becky Jones, Parkinson’s research communications director in the United Kingdom, welcomed the work, noting that there is no final test for Parkinson.
“Although this study is very small, as it included only three people with Parkinson, it provides a new way of thinking about the diagnosis by measuring the changes in manual writing, which can be early symptoms,” she said. “We now need larger and more diverse studies, to better understand the capabilities of this method and how it can support previous and more accurate diagnoses in the future.”
