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. 2024 Nov 26;27(12):111480.
doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.111480. eCollection 2024 Dec 20.

Continuous tremor monitoring in Parkinson's disease: A wristwatch-inspired triboelectric sensor approach

Sirinya Ukasi  1   2 , Satana Pongampai  3   2 , Basanta Kumar Panigrahi  4 , Swati Panda  5 , Sugato Hajra  5 , Hoe Joon Kim  5 , Naratip Vittayakorn  6   2 , Thitirat Charoonsuk  1   2
Affiliations

Continuous tremor monitoring in Parkinson's disease: A wristwatch-inspired triboelectric sensor approach

Sirinya Ukasi et al. iScience. .

Abstract

Parkinson's disease (PD) prevalence is projected to reach 12 million by 2040. Wearable sensors offer a promising approach for comfortable, continuous tremor monitoring to optimize treatment strategies. Here, we present a wristwatch-like triboelectric sensor (WW-TES) inspired by automatic watches for unobtrusive PD tremor assessment. The WW-TES utilizes a free-standing design with a surface-modified polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) film and a stainless-steel rotor within a biocompatible polylactic acid (PLA) package. Electrode distance is optimized to maximize the output signal. We propose and discuss the WW-TES working mechanism. The final design is validated for activities of daily living (ADLs), with varying signal amplitudes corresponding to tremor severity levels ("normal" to "severe") based on MDS-UPDRS tremor frequency. Wavelet packet transform (WPT) is employed for signal analysis during ADLs. The WW-TES demonstrates the potential for continuous tremor monitoring, offering an accurate screening of severity and comfortable, unobtrusive wearability.

Keywords: Health sciences; Materials science; Natural sciences.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

None
Graphical abstract
Figure 1
Figure 1
The surface characterization and electrical output of pristine PTFE and modified PTFE (A and B) SEM images of pristine PTFE film (A), and modified PTFE film (B). (C and D) AFM images showing the surface morphology of pristine PTFE film (C), and modified PTFE film (D). (E and F) Electrical output VOC (E), and ISC (F) of the PTFE before and after surface modification by polishing.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Working principle and electrical output of regular TES (A) SEM images with a schematic diagram of the working principle. (B) The figure depicting the working principle for FS-TES device. (C) VOC and ISC of FS-TES by varying the distance of electrodes.(D and E) The electrical output VOC (D) and ISC (E) of FS-TES by varying frequency.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Design and fabrication process of WW-TES device (A) The designed components. (B) The target of the final WW-TES device with experimental fabrication steps. (C) The fabrication of the device’s frame using the 3D printing method. (D) A schematic diagram of the WW-TES device assembly (the scale bar in step v is 1 cm).
Figure 4
Figure 4
The working principle of the WW-TES device (A) The steps of a stainless-steel rotor plate movement inside the WW-TES device. (B) The working principle of the WW-TES device.
Figure 5
Figure 5
The schematic diagram of designing WW-TES with various electrode distances and electrical output (A) A design of WW-TES with various electrode distances. (B and C) The electrical output VOC (B) and ISC (C) of the WW-TES device by varying the distance of electrodes. (D and E) The electrical output VOC (D) and ISC (E) of the TES device by the frequency. (F) The cycles of output signal stability. (G) The stability continues for 4000 s.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Humidity testing of WW-TES device (A) The digital picture of the humidity setup and the operation of WW-TES to detect humidity changes. (B) The output voltage of WW-TES. (C) The mechanism of the humidity effect on WW-TES.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Practical application: Activities of daily living (ADLs) testing (A) Schematic image of WW-TES device in this work (the scale bar is 1 cm) (B) Schematic of activity movement for the experiment: (i) pouring water and (ii) eating. (C) Output signal for water pouring activity. (D) Output signal for eating activity (E) Wavelet packet transform decomposition: (i) water pouring, and (ii) eating.
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