Development of Methods to Detect Movement Disorders in Parkinson's Disease

In this study, a method for the detection of rigidity movement disorder, which is one of the common symptoms of Parkinson's Disease, was developed. The developed method is based on an electromechanical measuring device. With this method, parameters related to stiffness of the patient's wrist were obtained by the computerized analysis of the recorded measurement data and comparison was made with the stiffness score of the physician. The data were compared with the motor scores of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Assessment Scale (UPDRS) and the Hoehn-Yahr Staging Scale. The results showed that the motor UPDRS scores and the Hoehn-Yahr Staging scale were consistent. Furthermore, it was seen that the rigidity enhancing effect of the Froment maneuver can be distinguished by the established system. It was noted that the stiffness scores with Froment maneuver measurements made for the same patient were 1 point higher than the stiffness scores without Froment maneuver measurements. Also; As a result of the comparison made with the stiffness scoring performed by the physician, it was found that the stiffness data obtained were generally consistent with the physician scoring. However, according to the data obtained, some physician scoring deviations from normal were determined. As a result of these studies, a lower-upper limit was established for stiffness values evaluated between 0-4 points. Thus, an objective method that can be used to evaluate the sign of stiffness was proposed.