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Wireless devices to restart walking during an episode of FOG on patients with Parkinson's disease

Abstract:

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic and degenerative disorder of body movement, affecting people between the ages of 50 and 60. Freezing of Gait (FOG) is a symptom of the advanced stage of PD, associated with gait disorders with prominent risk falls; these drops cause stress, pain and are the main cause of death by injury. In this research, was developed a hardware-based wireless system non-invasive for the acquisition of real-time data from PD patients presenting with FOG episodes to stimulate walking progression, prevent falls, and improve patients' lifestyles. This was achieved by placing a stimulator device near the posterior tibial nerve of the lower extremities. The patients' gait is automatically detected by a three-axis accelerometer coupled to an inertial measurement unit (IMU). To make the data is raised three typical scenarios of occurrence of FOG: walk in a straight line, turns of 180 degrees, up and down steps, the data will be read and stored in a processor and transmitted to the smartphone via Bluetooth. Detected the FOG, generates a signal that produces vibratory stimulation, helping to break the FOG or avoiding it. The features of the devices are: use of surface sensors, low cost, portable, easy use and lightweight, in addition, a smartphone is used for monitoring and processing. For the validation of the system was done analytically based on specificity, sensitivity and effectiveness.