DISEASE DETECTOR FOR THE ANALYSIS OF NEUROMOTOR DISEASES

BIO-ROBOTICS

CONTENTS1) Introduction2) Biorobotics & research3) Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s Disease4) DDX system5) Software diagram6) Technical Architecture7) Biorobotic electronic circuit8) Description of the biorobotic system9) Applications, Advantages and Disadvantages10)Conclusion

Biorobotics Bringing Biology And Robotics Together…

• Making robots that emulate and stimulate living biological organisms mechanically or even chemically.

• Application of biological ideas to address technological problems.

• Application of robotics to solve problems regarding biology and medicine.

Motor Neuron Diseases• MNDs are a group of progressive neurological disorders

that destroy motor neurons, the cells that control essential voluntary muscle activity such as speaking, walking, breathing, and swallowing.

• Some MNDs are inherited, but the causes of most MNDs are not known.

• There is no cure or standard treatment for the MNDs.

• EX : Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), Progressive muscular atrophy (PMA), Amyotrophic lateral Sclerosis(ALS).

Need for an DDX• To measure the neuro-psychomotor conditions of an

individual to detect his/her state of health, it is necessary to obtain a set of parameters such as reaction time, speed, strength and tremor.

• The set of parameters obtained is useful not only to diagnose neuro-motor pathologies (e.g. Parkinson Disease), but also to assess general everyday health or to monitor sports performance;

• Autonomous testing is important, as the individual is likely to be more relaxed thus obviating emotional problems.

• The DDX system has been designed with reference to the biomechanical characteristics of the human finger.

INTRODUCTION• Disease Detector (DDX), portable equipment with detection

of response time and psychophysical conditions in normal and exceptional environments.

• a simple joystick with a few buttons, an LCD display and a simple interface for remote communication of diagnosis.

contd …• The external effects require

1) the response to sounds, 2) a soft touch of a button, 3) by pronouncing a word, 4) the touch of the finger in front of a virtual reality drawing of the finger itself.

• Fuzzy Logic is exploited in order to obtain an intelligent and reliable detector.

• Three basic parameters (reaction, speed and force) are acquired.

BIOROBOTICS & RESEARCH• Many new and innovative inventions like robotic hand ,a voice- controlled robot has

been designed.

• In 1985, bio-engineers have developed a bionic prosthesis with electronic control incorporated in an artificial limb.

• Recently, a dummy for cardiac simulation purposes, and data acquisition systems involving neuromotor control has been developed.

• Eccles designed the pattern for recognition of the behavior of the brain control circuits.

• Analogue concepts developed by Searle and Richards represent fundamental steps to recognize how much the robotic systems are helping in the simulation of brain activity.

• Some of the scientific developments linked to biology and Biorobotics: activation of neuron circuits, recovery of damaged neuromotor functions, etc.

inventions

PARKINSON’S DISEASE• Parkinson's disease is a progressive, degenerative

neurological movement disorder that affects approximately 10 million people world wide.

• Parkinson's disease occurs when the nerve cells in the brain that make dopamine are slowly destroyed.

• Primary symptoms : Tremor, Rigidity, Postural Instability, Bradykinesia.

• An estimated 7-10 million people worldwide are living with Parkinson's disease.

ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE • Causes problems with memory, thinking and behavior.

• Symptom : difficulty in remembering newly learned information.

• Alzheimer’s disease is the 6th leading cause of death in the U.S and the 5th leading cause of death for those aged 65 and older.

DDX system• It is used for a soft touch. The person looks at the screen

and reads words of warning and of start. In the same time, a sound, like a beep, gives the start signal.

• The person must press softly the button with index finger, with right or left hand.

• The tremor before and during the pressure on the button is measured by a switch which detects oscillations of the hand.

SOFTWARE DIAGRAM

• Button push– performed by placing forefinger on button and

pushing it down slowly.– Followed by visual-sound signal.

1) Fast protocol 2) Virtual protocol

• Vocal Articulation1) Fast reading: foreperiod and duration to

articulate word are measured. 2) Delayed reading

• Result analysis and presentation with fuzzy logic

contd …

TECHNICAL ARCHITECTURE OF THE WORKING SYSTEM DDX

• Parameters are acquired from the button.

• tremor sensor - measures vibrations of the wrist of the hand.

• Processor -> Buzzer -> timer starts->sampling -> sends another impulse to the buzzer -> variable tj -> patient will press the push button -> variable ti, variable tf -> The speed of patient motion can be calculated from these times.

• Pressure is calculated using a simple circuit .

Biorobotic electronic circuit • a digital display LCD (twelve characters in two columns), • 4 keys for managing a menu navigator similar to that of

a mobile phone menu, • an OK key to confirm, • a Menu key in order to return to the main menu, • a Buzzer for the acoustic beep, • a Load cell by strain gauges with its amplifier. • By pressing the button 3 beacons are sent: Start pressure beacon Race-end beacon Force beacon

DESCRIPTION OF THE BIOROBOTIC SYSTEM

IMPROVEMENT : A NEW MODEL WITH CAD DESIGN & RAPID PROTOTYPING

• Reduced dimension and an hardware & user-friendly software.

• The system can be used not only in medical field, but also in the daily health and sport field.

• Parameters considered : reaction time, speed, tremor, force and ability of coordination and synchronization.

• Test protocol• Results analysis : IPF

APPLICATIONS

• Experimental tests done on subject affected from Parkinson’s.

• Experimental tests done on subjects belonging to the sport field.

• Tests in the professional field: Ferrari Race.

ADVANTAGES

• This device is very small and portable device.

• User-friendly machine.

• It is like a mobile phone, with more efficient diagnostic results.

• The ability to hold the joystick with a single hand is the fundamental aspect of this system.

• A person’s state of health may be tested daily.

• It also provides the ability of transferring diagnosis through a remote communication interface in order to monitor daily the state of health of a patient.

• The system is an intelligent-machine based on soft computing techniques.

• Its efficiency can be improved considering more example for membership function calibration or, moreover, improving the response correctness by using a self learning technique.

contd …

DISADVANTAGE

• The DDX control system consists of a small board with an internal fuzzy logic. It is clear that the main disadvantage of such circuit switched networks is that they are not able to adequately cope with highly variable traffic.

CONCLUSION

• Daphne device allows to obtain a quantitative and exact measure of the neuromotor health condition of a person and of it reflects very well the psychological condition.

• The system is an intelligent biorobotic system based on soft computing techniques and, as such, its efficiency maybe improved via extended function calibration or by improving response correctness with self-learning techniques.

REFERENCES

• Rovetta , A. Cucè , D. Platania ,C. Solenghi,” New equipment for the detection of the neuromotor diseases and efficiencies in the motion control”.

• Eduardo Tolosa, Gregor Wenning, Werner Poewe, “The diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease”,2006.

• W. Richards, “Natural Computation”, Mit Press,1998• http://sitesearch.alz.org• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0049051/•

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/motor_neuron_diseases/

• http://www.emedicinehealth.com/• www.alz.org/gmc

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