An Accelerometer-based Wearable Multi-node Motion Detection System of Freezing of Gait in Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a common disease with impaired motor skills, in which frozen gait is characterized by sudden onset, and clinical evaluation is difficult to some extent. To this end, we construct a multi-node real-time monitoring wearable system of movement information for quantitative assessment of PD frozen symptoms. The system is composed of wearable devices, relay endpoint and supporting host computer. The wireless transmission network of multi-motion sensor node data is realized by using Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) technology. Seven inertial sensors are worn on patients’ upper limbs, lower limbs and waist respectively to realize synchronous acquisition of multi-position motion information under free movement condition. In addition, data processing algorithm is integrated on the nodes, which relieves burden of the relay endpoint, and provides an interface for online evaluation and closed-loop control of PD action block. The device has the characteristics of multi-information, micro-load and wide range of activity, and clinical tests show that it can effectively distinguish patients’ daily exercise status. In so-doing, we lay the foundation for maximizing the interpretable information on gait analysis and for further research into the application of wearable technologies in PD management.