Monitoring Motor Fluctuations in Parkinson’s Disease Using a Waist-Worn Inertial Sensor

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder. First appreciable symptoms in PD are those related to an altered movement control. Current PD treatments temporally revert the symptoms, but they do not prevent disease’s progression. At the beginning of the treatment, the antiparkinsonian effect of the medication is very evident and symptoms may completely disappear for hours; however, as disease progresses, motor fluctuations appear. Collecting precise information on the temporal course of fluctuations is essential for tailoring an optimal therapy in PD patients and is one of the main parameters in clinical trials. This paper presents an algorithm for wearable devices to automatically detect patient’s motor fluctuations based on inertial sensors. The algorithm has been evaluated in 7 PD patients at their homes without supervision and performing their usual activities. Results are a mean sensitivity of 99.9% and a mean specificity of 99.9%.