A telemedicine instrument for remote evaluation of tremor: design and initial applications in fatigue and patients with Parkinson's Disease

INTRODUCTION: A novel system that combines a compact mobile instrument and Internet communications is presented in this paper for remote evaluation of tremors. The system presents a high potential application in Parkinson's disease and connects to the Internet through a TCP/IP protocol. Tremor transduction is carried out by accelerometers, and the data processing, presentation and storage were obtained by a virtual instrument. The system supplies the peak frequency (fp), the amplitude (Afp) and power in this frequency (Pfp), the total power (Ptot), and the power in low (1-4 Hz) and high (4-7 Hz) frequencies (Plf and Phf, respectively). METHODS: The ability of the proposed system to detect abnormal tremors was initially demonstrated by a fatigue study in normal subjects. In close agreement with physiological fundamentals, the presence of fatigue increased fp, Afp, Pfp and Pt (p < 0.05), while the removal of fatigue reduced all the mentioned parameters (p < 0.05). The system was also evaluated in a preliminary in vivo test in parkinsonian patients. Afp, Pfp, Ptot, Plf and Phf were the most accurate parameters in the detection of the adverse effects of this disease (Se = 100%, Sp = 100%), followed by fp (Se = 100%, Sp = 80%). Tests for Internet transmission that realistically simulated clinical conditions revealed adequate acquisition and analysis of tremor signals and also revealed that the user could adequately receive medical recommendations. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed system can be used in a wide spectrum of telemedicine scenarios, enabling the home evaluation of tremor occurrence under specific medical treatments and contributing to reduce the costs of the assistance offered to these patients.