To quantitatively measure the neuro-psychomotor conditions of an individual in order to subsequently detect their health status, it is necessary to obtain a set of parameters such as reaction time, speed, force and tremor. By processing these parameters through the use of fuzzy logic it is possible to monitor the health status of an individual, for example. If he / she is healthy or affected by a particular pathology like Parkinson's disease, dementia, etc.
The set of parameters obtained is useful not only to diagnose neuro-motor pathologies (for example, Parkinson's disease), but also to evaluate general daily health or to control sports performance; In addition, continued use of the device by an individual for health monitoring purposes not only allows the detection of a particular pathology, but also provides greater awareness in terms of how the lifestyle or certain habits tend to have Repercussions on psychophysical well-being. Since an individual's health status must be continually monitored, it is essential that he or she be able to handle the test autonomously without affecting their emotional state: self-testing is important, as the individual is likely to be more Relaxed avoiding emotional problems. The new system has been designed with reference to the biomechanical characteristics of the human finger.
The disease detector (DDX) is a new biological robotic device that is a diffuse control system based on the detection of neuro-motional and psychophysical health conditions. The initial experimental system (DD1) and the current system (DD2) are not easy to transport and, although very reliable, they can not estimate the patient's health beyond the typical parameters of Parkinson's disease nor are they able to transmit to Distance from such diagnoses.
This new bio-robotic system is exploited to obtain an intelligent and reliable detector supported by a very small and portable device, with a simple joystick with few buttons, a liquid screen (LCD), and a simple interface for remote diagnostic communication. It can be adopted for earth and space applications, due to its portability, to measure all reactions against external effects.
The DDX control system consists of a small board with an internal fuzzy microcontroller that acquires, through the action on a button on the joystick, some important parameters: reaction time, speed of movement, finger strength in the button and tremor And analyzes them by diffuse rules to detect the kind of patient's disease. In addition, this new device also includes a system for detecting vocal reaction. The resulting output can be viewed through a display or transmitted through a communication interface.
Reaction time, velocity, force and tremor are parameters that are used to obtain a quantitative instrumental determination of the neuro-psychophysical health of a patient. These parameters have been used in the study of the progression of Parkinson's disease, a particularly degenerative neural process, but these parameters may also be useful in detecting the well-being of a healthy person. In fact, these measurements prove to be an excellent method to find alteration of reactive parameters due not only to a pathology, but also, for example, to the use of drugs, alcohol, drugs used in the treatment of mental conditions, or other substances that could Affect the reactive and coordinating capacities of a person.