Radars detect alterations when walking due to Parkinson’s

Researchers of the Polytechnic University of Madrid have participated in the development of a radar system capable of detecting alterations in the way you walk associated with Parkinson’s disease, which would allow an early, comfortable, economical and non-invasive diagnosis.

As explained by the Microwave and Radar Group (GMR) from the university, which has collaborated on this project with the Neurology Service of Gregorio Marañón General University Hospitalthe prototype created is capable of extracting gait biomarkers that allow identifying motor alterations characteristic of the disease even in early phases.

The devices developed, with a cost of less than 150 euros, analyze the way patients walk in a particularly comfortable way, since they do not require the person to wear body sensors, which can be uncomfortable or even involuntarily modify the natural gait.

To analyze the data, the researchers have worked with advanced algorithms that make it possible to extract numerous key parameters related to the disease. Among them, an innovative methodology stands out, developed in collaboration with researchers from the TU Delft University (Netherlands), which allows evaluating the symmetry of gait, that is, the differences in movement between both sides of the body, one of the most relevant indicators of Parkinson’s in its initial stages.

During the development of the project, it has been proven that the designed radars achieve a precision comparable to that of the infrared camerascurrently considered the most advanced technology for gait analysis. Compared to these technologies, radars have the advantage of allowing a much faster and cheaper analysis.

This validation has been possible thanks to the collaboration of specialists from the Movement Analysis, Biomechanics, Ergonomics and Motor Control Laboratory of the Rey Juan Carlos University (LAMBECOM), as well as the Sports Biomechanics Laboratory of the INEF-UPM.

The GMR researcher Ignacio Lopez Delgado has highlighted that these devices could be easily deployed in homes or healthcare centers, as they do not capture images and have a reduced cost. “Likewise, radars could be used to prevent falls or to evaluate patients’ response to new pharmacological treatments,” he added.

Used in the Gregorio Marañón Hospital

Currently, the radars developed by the GMR are being used in the Gregorio Marañón Hospital to analyze the gait of patients with already diagnosed Parkinson’s, control subjects and people with high probability of developing the disease in the coming years. Preliminary results indicate that it is possible to detect alterations in gait that would allow the diagnosis to be made earlier.

Looking to the future, the researchers plan to combine the data captured by these radars with artificial intelligence (AI) systems, with the aim of further improving early detection and supporting clinical diagnosis.

This work is part of several doctoral theses focused on the detection of Parkinson’s disease, the monitoring of vital signs and other applications of radar in health and safety, all of them supervised by Professor Jesús Grajal, head of the Microwave and Radar Group at the UPM.