Putting a Ring on It: AAMU Scientists Monitor Tremor

One Day ... Monitoring Tremor at Home
Perhaps you have been thinking about a loved one or friend impacted by multiple sclerosis or Parkinson鈥檚 disease. Then, knowing that a local and caring group of researchers is thinking about them, too, likely will brighten your day. An industrious materials sciences group at 美女萝莉 A&M University is developing a biomedical sensor that will monitor the severity of hand tremor.
The group, led by Dr. Ashok K. Batra, has published its work in a recent journal,
Sensors & Transducers. In addition to AAMU, the impactful team has pulled in researchers from the International
Clean Water Institute of Manassas, Va.; Riga Technical University in Latvia; and the
Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, Mich.
Batra and associates define tremor as 鈥渁 small, rhythmic shaking movement that occurs in a back-and-forth pattern鈥 that is common at some scale in everyone, although usually undetectable. Added factors, such as fatique, stress, fear, anger鈥攐r even caffeine鈥攃an make the tremor more obvious. The team, however, focused on hand tremor most common among middle-aged and older persons.
The team developed a light-weight ring out of special material and tested it as a potential means of monitoring hand tremor. The researchers are hopeful further clinical investigations can be useful in a home environment, opening the door for a home-monitoring system similar to ones used to monitor blood pressure.
The article is published in Vol. 253, Issue 6, of Sensors & Transducers.
Captions: Batra; Testing light-weight metal ring designed by AAMU researchers.