Modeling and simulations of biomechanical symptoms of Parkinson's disease

Abstract

Patients with Parkinson's disease experience oscillatory motion of body parts (tremor) due to an increased reaction time. The tremor is an early-stage symptom of Parkinson's disease, but the increased reaction time (the delay in the sensory feedback control) can make it difficult for patients to perform their basic tasks. Biomechanical models with feedback control theory can not only provide diagnostic tools to measure the delay from the nature of tremor, but can also provide a quantitative understanding of how the delay results in other advanced-stage biomechanical symptoms such as stooping. A mechanics-based perspective on how the tremor results from the delay has recently been proposed in [J. Mech. Med. Biol., Vol. 11(5), pp.1017]. We extended the same perspective to develop a proof-of-concept smartphone App for measuring the severity of the disease in terms of the delay from the tremor. We are also developing mechanical models of human body with neural control based on the same perspective to simulate and analyze other biomechanical symptoms of the disease. We expect that such models will provide a novel foundation for improved diagnosis, prognosis, and safer symptomatic treatment strategies.