New Citations | Measuring rhythm to study Parkinson’s

Recent physiological studies feature BIOPAC’s Wireless BioNomadix Data Recorders

Using Metronomes and Rhythmic stimulation to help people with Parkinson’s disease walk

New research into assisting walking and gait control for those diagnosed with Parkinson’s.

For those living with Parkinson’s disease, even simple tasks can take too long to accomplish properly, such as crossing a room or picking up an object. In this study, participants with diagnosed cases of Parkinson’s were exposed to auditory stimuli in the form of metronomes or rhythmic music, and asked to tap their feet to the beat of the music in a particular marked spot. Wearable BioNomadix sensors coupled with a Heel/Toe strike transducer recorded step and tap data to measure strike time.

Read the full study: Music and Metronomes Differentially Impact Motor Timing in People with and without Parkinson’s Disease: Effects of Slow, Medium, and Fast Tempi on Entrainment and Synchronization Performances in Finger Tapping, Toe Tapping, and Stepping on the Spot Tasks (Dawn Rose, Yvonne Delevoye-Turrell, Laurent Ott, Lucy E. Annett, and Peter J. Lovatt)

Creating a new swallowing function test with noninvasive sensors

One of the most popular tests to measure problems exercising the muscles to swallow involves an invasive procedure with minor exposure to radiation. As new technologies become available, new noninvasive tests aim to produce equatable results to the standardized invasive procedure, without the risk of radiation. This study tested swallow function with a nasal airflow sensor, a force sense resistor measuring respiration, and a BioNomadix EMG transmitter with BIOPAC bipolar electrodes to measure contractions during swallowing.

Read the full study: Using Wearable and Non-Invasive Sensors to Measure Swallowing Function: Detection, Verification, and Clinical Application (Wann-Yun Shieh , Chin-Man Wang , Hsin-Yi Kathy Cheng  and Chen-Hsiang Wang)

Effects of Natural Disasters on depression and EDA

In 2012, Superstorm Sandy (commonly referred to as Hurricane Sandy) tore through the Northeast U.S. coast, causing nearly $70 billion in damages. Due to the short- and long-term effects of the storm, expectant mothers were exposed to high stress environments, in some cases leading to instances of depression. In this study, prenatal depression was evaluated as a possible cause of lower electrodermal activity in these children. The BioNomadix Wireless EDA transmitter was used to measure children’s EDA as a base measurement to compare to the mother’s mental evaluation for this study.

See the full study: The children of Superstorm Sandy: Maternal prenatal depression blunts offspring electrodermal activity (J. Buthmann, J. Finik, G. Ventura, Y. Nomura)

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