Diagnosis of Parkinson´s disease: A limit cycle approach

Parkinson´s disease is characterized by increased reaction times in both voluntary and involuntary motor responses and often results in unintended oscillatory motion of body parts, termed as Parkinsonian tremor. A simple and efficient method for diagnosing Parkinson´s disease is still not available and furthermore, on the correct diagnosis of Parkinson´s disease, estimating the severity of the disease is challenging. This is particularly important since the medications typically prescribed to address the symptoms of Parkinson´s disease have adverse side effects and thus the dosages have to be finely optimized. In this paper, based on a systems theory perspective and a recently suggested control-system analogy [11], a simple method for the diagnosis of Parkinson´s disease is explored. This paper also discusses the possibility of developing a low-cost diagnostic device and strategies for the same. Future work will focus on using data from real patients to validate the hypotheses and results in this paper.