Kinematic Parameters and Anomalies Detection in Parkinson's Disease: Finger Tapping movement analysis

In Parkinson's disease, the clinical assessment of the disease severity occurs through the UPDRS (Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale). In particular, in the upper-limb motor test part of UPDRS the scoring procedure is related to some kinematic aspects of the hand/finger movements while performing specific motor exercises (e.g. Fingertapping) The intent of this report is to illustrate methods and algorithms used to detect kinematic parameters relevant for Parkinson's desease. Kinematic parameters such as amplitude, velocity, rate, rhythm, anomalies etc. are automatically evaluated. The parameters are obtained by an acquisition system which is based on RGB-Depth cameras, capable of tracking the tri-dimensional trajectories of passive-markers placed on thumb and index fingertips.