Estimation of Hand Tremor from Accelerometer for Real Time Applications

Abstract

Introduction One prevalent movement issue that negatively impacts a person's life is tremors. Wearable tremor suppression devices are now a potentially practical alternative for managing tremors in Parkinson's patients thanks to recent advancements in wearable technology. A mechanical solution is required due to the numerous shortcomings of the current therapeutic approaches. The aim of this paper to develop a tremor estimator glove to detect the amplitude and frequency of the hand tremor of the elderly people or Parkinson’s disease people. According to the frequency analysis, hand tremors result in hand oscillations with noticeable harmonics. Amplitude analysis results hand movement in x axis, y axis and z axis direction. An analysis of the tremor's behavior in Indian patient cohort revealed that the mean frequency of the tremor was 5.05 ± 2.03 Hz. Clinical trial conducted on 62 patients and estimated their hand movements in terms of amplitude variations where 41 patient’s amplitude range is below 50 mille volts and 21 patient’s amplitude ranges between 50 to 160 mille volts.

Objectives: The objective of this article is to develop a wearable synthetic glove to estimate essential tremors in elderly people or parkinsons diseased people so that futher device can be developled to suppress the tremor which will uable people to perform their day to day live work easily like eating, writing, carrying objects from one place to other.

Methods: The implemented device consist of an accelerometer sensor for sensing the hand movement of the tremor patient in x, y and z diection. A microcontreoller AT mega 138 to collect the data from sensor using a bluetooth device. The sensor is placed on the hands of the patient o measure the hand movement of the person in mille volts with respect to time in seconds. A rechargeable li ion battery is used for the supply.

Results: This show the analysis of the data collected from the 62 patients having essential tremor. The frequency of essential tremors ranges from 5Hzs to 12 Hzs. The data analysis shows that the amplitude of 41 Patients ranges between 0 to 50mV and 21 patients ranges from frpm 50 mv to 160mv in x, y and Z directions.

Conclusions: Individuals with essential Tremors, or any neurodegenerative condition for that matter, face numerous challenges in their daily lives and typically lead less fulfilling lives than others. Tremor estimator plays a vital roll while knowing the amount of hand movements in essential tremor patients. It is one of the necessary step required before tremor suppressions.