Research into the diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease
Parkinson’s
Disease
is
a
progressive
movement
disorder
which
affects
approx
-
imately
2%
of
people
over
age
65.
It
is
characterised
by
slowness
of
movement,
tremors,
rigidity
and
postural
instability,
along
with
a
range
of
non-motor
effects,
and it currently has no cure.
The
effects
of
Parkinson’s
are
due
to
neurodegeneration
and
the
loss
of
movement-
controlling
neurotransmitters
in
the
mid-brain.
Unfortunately,
by
the
time
that
Parkinson’s has been diagnosed, 60%–70% of those neurons have already been lost.
Diagnosis
At
present,
diagnosis
of
Parkinson’s
relies
entirely
on
observation
of
movement,
such
as
walking
gait,
hand
movement
and
tremors
by
a
specialist
clinicician.
There
is
no
diagnostic
test
as
such
-
accurate
diagnosis
is
heavily
dep
endent
on
the
experience
of
the
clinician;
there
is
a
high
rate
of
misdiagnosis
(upwards
of
25%);
and typically people have the disease for many years before it is diagnosed.
In
the
future,
neuroprotective
treatments
and
medications
may
be
developed
which
slow
the
disease
progression.
However,
in
order
to
be
effective,
any
neuroprotective
therapy will need to start early, before there is significant neuron loss.
This
highlights
the
need
for
a
more
accurate
way
of
diagnosing
Parkinson’s
in
its
early stages.
This project
The
aim
is
to
develop
an
accurate,
simple-to-use,
non-invasive
diagnostic
tool
for
Parkinson’s
Disease
(PD).
Once
developed,
this
KeySense
®
tool
will
be
made
available for use by the general population as well as health practitioners.
As
far
back
as
the
19th
century,
telegraph
operators
could
recognize
each
other
through
their
specific
tapping
styles.
This
suggests
that
keystroke
dynamics
contain
sufficient information to serve as a biometric identifier.
The
current
phase
of
the
project
(this
website)
is
a
longitudinal
study
over
12
months
to
investigate
the
characteristics
of
typing
(finger
movement)
and
how
some
of
these
change over time in people with PD.
Our
previous
work
has
already
determined
that
such
characteristics
can
be
used
to
quite
accurately
detect
the
presence
of
PD
at
its
early
stages,
and
the
current
study
is
to refine those into a generally-applicable diagnostic tool.
So
we
need
a
group
of
300
volunteers
for
this
phase
of
the
research
in
order
to
gather more data.
| Parkinson’s Disease Laboratory | Research into better diagnostic tools | The KeySense
®
diagnostic suite | Copyright 2018 |
Our Aim
This
university
research
is
to
develop
a
tool
for
the
early
detection
of
Parkinson’s
Disease,
by
util
ising
the
characteristics
of
finger
resp
onses
when
typing
on
a
computer.
You
can
help
right
now
by
participating
in
the
current
project
phase
and
all
you
need
to
do
is
install
a
small
research
app
on
your
PC.
That’s
it
-
there
is
no
other
work
involved.
Invitation
We
need
people
in
the
age
range
of
50
to
70
to
participate
in
this
research.
It
is
not
important
whether
you
already
have
PD
or
not,
as
we
particularly
need
people
without
any
movement
disorder
as
a
‘control
group’
-
for
example,
a
spouse
or
friend
of
a Parkinson’s-sufferer is ideal.
You
have
shown
an
interest
in
Parkinson’s
research
and
diagnosis
by
visiting
this
website,
so
we
believe
that
you
may
be
someone
who
is
interested
in
participating
further.
Please
get
started
now
by
installing
the
research
app
on
your
computer.
You
can
also see more details
here
.
Checklist for eligibility
I am 50 or older
Either (a) I already have Parkinson’s
Disease, or (b) I don’t, but still want to
help
I use a Windows PC and use the
computer regularly each month, for at
least a few minutes each day e.g. for e-
mails, web browsing and general typing
I am the only person who uses this PC;
or several of us use the PC, but we each
log on with our own separate account
Since this is a research project, we ask
you to read and agree to the Participant
Information & Informed Consent.
Who we are
PDLab
has
been
established
as
part
of
a
university
research
study
being
undertaken
by
Warwick
Adams,
at
Charles
Sturt University, Australia.
We need your participation
Participating
is
really
simple
-
just
download
and
install
a
small
research
app
(called
Tappy)
on
your
computer
for
12
months.
It
asks
you
for
some
basic
details
and
then
starts
analysing
your
finger
responses
as
you
type.
It
doesn’t
affect
the
performance
of
your PC in any way and you won’t even notice it is there.