Early detection of most conditions or diseases will help significantly in terms of developing treatments and chances of recovery. Parkinson’s is a progressive neurological disease that affects around 1 million people in the U.S., with as many as 60,000 new cases being diagnosed each and every year. While the average age of Parkinson’s disease patients tends to be around 60, young people are being diagnosed too. Currently, there is no cure for this debilitating disease, so an early detection would help considerably in finding the right treatment plan for patients before their symptoms are too severe.
A new detection tool has been developed by researchers from RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia that has the ability to diagnose Parkinson’s patients before any physical symptoms arise. Although the device is still in its early stages of development, it’s already achieving an accuracy rate of 93%. According to chief investigator Professor Dinesh Kumar many of the Parkinson’s treatments out there are only effective when the disease is detected early on. “Pushing back the point at which treatment can start is critical because we know that by the time someone starts to experience tremors or rigidity, it may already be too late,” he explained.
It’s pretty common knowledge that Parkinson’s disease affects a person’s ability to write and draw, but up until now, researchers have struggled to translate that into an assessment method. “The customized software we’ve developed records how a person draws a spiral and analyzes the data in real time. The only equipment you need to run the test is a pen, paper, and a large drawing tablet. With this tool we can tell whether someone has Parkinson’s disease and calculate the severity of their condition with a 93% accuracy rate,” says Kumar. Not only will Kumar’s device help diagnose patient’s with Parkinson’s earlier, but it could also help those suffering from the disease better manage their condition.
Parkinson’s disease is the second most common neurological disease in Australia and affects as many as 80,000 Australians currently. Around 20% of these sufferers are under 50 years old, and a further 10% under 40. The study, led by Ph.D. researcher Poonam Zham, involved testing 62 people who had Parkinson’s disease. Half of the test subjects had mild to severe visible symptoms while the other half didn’t display any. Upon comparing the patient’s different levels of dexterity, including writing a sentence, writing individual letters and sketching a guided Archimedean spiral it was decided that the spiral was the easiest and most reliable for patients to draw.
“Our study has some limitations, so we need to do more work to validate our results, including a longitudinal study on different demographics and a trial of patients who are not taking medication,” said Zham. The team is hopeful about the potential of the device and eager to see of being used to transform the lives of millions of people worldwide.
More News to Read
- Astronomers Discover Strange ‘Glitch’ in Binary System
- Scientists Taught Robots to Understand Brain Function and Brain Disorders Such as Alzheimer’s
- Astronomers Measure Distant Galaxy’s Magnetic Field Shedding Light on Cosmic Conundrum
- Astronomers Discover Distant Starburst Galaxies
- Sandia’s Z Machine Tests Contradict Black Hole Models