Smart Glasses for Gait Analysis of Parkinson’s Disease Patients

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative disorders of the central nervous system, which predominantly affects patients’ motor functions, movement, and stability. Monitoring movement in patients with PD is crucial for inferring motor state fluctuations throughout daily life activities, which aids in disease progression analysis and assessing how patients respond to medications over time. In this preliminary study, we examine the possibility of using smart glasses equipped with Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) sensors for providing objective information on the motor state of PD patients. Data was collected from seven patients with PD with varying levels of symptom severity, who performed a total of 35 trails of the Timed-Up-and-Go (TUG) test while wearing the glasses. We present an IMU-based step-detection algorithm with a potential for continuous monitoring of patients’ gait. Furthermore, the analyses reveal patient-specific clusters in the sensor data, suggesting the possibility of developing personalized models for monitoring symptom progression. The findings suggest that smart glasses have the potential for unobtrusive and continuous screening of PD patients’ gait, enhancing the medical assessment and treatment.