Biosensorische bewegungserfassung beim parkinson-syndrom

Movement disorders can occur at every age. They restrict the affected persons' mobility and limit his or her quality of life. The most common neurodegenerative movement disorder in the elderly is Parkinson's disease. During disease progression movement impairments increase and become the main therapeutic target for patients and physicians. So far, the extent of motor impairments is based on the individual case history, which is influenced by the patients' emotions and cognitive abilities. An additional physical examination further helps the physician to estimate the degree of disability. However, the course of movement disorders throughout the day as well as over a period of several days or weeks is the main therapeutic criteria, which cannot be determined in single-phase surveys. This survey intends to present a variety of inpatient and mobile systems for sensorbased and automatic movement monitoring, which allow objective and quantitatively comparable evidence about motor impairments. We will focus on a study, which investigated a mobile gait analysis system allowing the monitoring of Parkinson-associated movement disorders via movement sensors attached to the patients' shoes. Via this system information about the extent of motor disorders and the diseases' stage can be collected independently and help the therapist with his or her assessment. In the future, these invisible sensor systems embedded in the patients' clothing may support diagnosis and therapy of other motor disorders as well and may be applied in prevention and therapy.