TITLE:
Design of a Biomedical Device to Reduce Anxiety Experienced by Patients Diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease
AUTHORS:
Madhini Vigneswaran, Anjali Menon
KEYWORDS:
Vibration Therapy, Healthcare Application, Parkinson’s Disease, Anxiety, Wristband, Heart Rate Variability
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Biomedical Science and Engineering,
Vol.17 No.3,
March
20,
2024
ABSTRACT: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a
neurodegenerative disease that occurs due to loss of nerve cells that produce
dopamine in the brain, affecting approximately 4 million people worldwide. PD
patients often feel an increase in anxiety levels daily. While there are
medications/exercises to help relieve anxiety, there are limited methods to
reduce anxiety without the help of a caretaker. As a result, MEDIC Foundation,
a non-profit organization in British Columbia, Canada, is designing an
automated system that consists of a wristband and an application which uses
vi-bration therapy to help reduce anxiety of PD patients. Literature reviews
were conducted to document the project’s needs. Phase I of the project focused
on de-veloping a prototype for the application and phase II on developing the
wrist-band. The team developed prototypes of a wristband that automatically
applies vibration near the median nerve as the heart rate variability (HRV)
deviates away from the normal threshold of the user, and an application that
displays real-time heart rate variability signals as well as provides for
relaxation. The development of the prototype is still in early progress. By
creating this automated system, we aim to provide a solution to senior PD
patients to relieve anxiety independently.