PD Lab

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.
PDLab

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.
PDLab |  Research into better diagnostic tools for Parkinson’s | 

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.

Our Aim

Our   goal   is   to   develop   a   tool   for   the   early   diagnosis of     Parkinson’s     Disease,     by     utilising     the     char  - acteristics    of    finger    responses    when    typing    on    a computer.  We    need    people    (both    with    and    without    existing Parkinson’s)    for    this.    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.