Method and apparatus utilizing computational intelligence to diagnose neurological disorders

#The present invention relates generally to diagnosing neurological disorders, and more particularly to a method and apparatus which utilize a trained computational intelligence system to classify movement of a patient based upon neurological disorder classifications.

#Several symptoms associated with Parkinson's disease (PD) have been documented such as lack of facial expression, tremor of the distal segments of the limbs at rest, muscular rigidity, bradykenesia, and postural abnormalities. However, the exact diagnosis of PD in an early phase of the disease is complicated because other neurological disorders such as essential tremor (ET) have similar early symptoms. According to international statistics, the diagnosis of more than 20% of patients in an early phase of a neurological disorder is false. Moreover, the diagnosis for a great number of patients is typically uncertain in the first 2-3 years of the neurological disorder. This 2-3 years of uncertainty results in a more expensive and less effective treatment of the patient when compared with appropriate treatment started in an earlier phase of the disorder.

#Therefore a need exists for a method and apparatus that are operable to accurately diagnose neurological disorders in an early phase of the disorder.

#FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an exemplary analysis system which incorporates features of the present invention therein;

#FIG. 2 shows a wrist-mounted actigraph suitable for implementing the movement monitoring device of FIG. 1;

#FIG. 3 shows a computer, interface unit, and a belt-worn unit used in conjunction with the wrist-mounted actigraph of FIG. 2;

#While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intent to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

#Referring now to FIG. 1, an exemplary analysis system 10 is shown which incorporates various features of the present invention therein. In general, the exemplary analysis system 10 is operable to (i) monitor movement of a patient, and (ii) classify the monitored movement as being characteristic of a certain neurological disorder. More specifically, the exemplary analysis system 10 is operable to (i) collect movement data that is representative of movement of a patient over a collection period, (ii) process the collected movement data, and (iii) generate output that indicates whether the movement of the patient during the collection period is indicative of a person who has Parkinson's disease (PD) or essential tremor (ET). To this end, the exemplary analysis system 10 includes a movement monitoring device 20, a preprocessor 30, a multiplexor 40, and a computational intelligence system 50.

#The movement monitoring device 20 is generally operable to monitor movement of a patient, and produce movement data that generally represents the movement of the patient. More specifically, the movement monitoring device 20 in an exemplary embodiment is operable to produce an analog movement signal having an amplitude that varies with respect to time based upon movement of the patient being monitored. In particular, in an exemplary embodiment, the movement monitoring device 20 is operable to vary the amplitude of the analog movement signal such that the analog movement signal has a resolution of about 10 milliG's (i.e. ten one thousandths of Earth's gravitational force) and a temporal resolution of at least 25 samples per second.