Smart pen detects Parkinson’s tremors with over 96% accuracy
Early symptoms of Parkinson’s disease are often difficult to detect. One of the hallmark signs is small, frequent hand tremors. Researchers have introduced an innovative solution - a diagnostic pen capable of accurately capturing these movements, Kazinform News Agency correspondent reports, citing IEEE Spectrum.
How the device works
The pen does not write in the traditional sense. Its flexible magnetic tip, made of neodymium magnets, and ferrofluid ink respond to motion by generating fluctuations in the magnetic field. These changes produce an electric current in a conductive coil embedded within the pen’s body. The resulting signal is then analyzed to identify characteristic features of hand movements.
“Because the device is capable of detecting small, high-frequency movements, it’s a good fit for examining hand tremors,” said Gary Chen, lead author of the study and a Ph.D. candidate at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Unlike traditional tests, this method evaluates not the marks left on paper, but the changes in the electrical signal during writing or drawing. The study’s findings were published in the journal Nature Chemical Engineering.
Test results
In a pilot study, electrical signals from the pen were used to train a neural network. Data were collected from two Parkinson’s patients and ten healthy volunteers. The validation phase included four more participants, one of whom had Parkinson’s disease. The algorithm distinguished handwriting of Parkinson’s patients from that of healthy individuals with over 96% accuracy.
Future prospects
The developers plan to implement wireless data transmission to smartphones. They also aim to determine whether the device can differentiate Parkinson’s disease from other conditions with similar symptoms and identify different stages of the disease.
Additionally, they are interested in exploring whether a patient’s native language or dominant hand affects diagnostic results, factors that could be crucial for practical clinical use.
Earlier, Kazinform News Agency reported that people who eat large amounts of ultra-processed foods are more likely to show early signs of Parkinson’s disease than those who eat less.
