Parkinson's disease (PD) presents several motor signs, including tremor and bradykinesia. However, these signs can also be found in other motor disorders and in neurologically healthy older adults. The incidence of bradykinesia in PD is relatively high in all stages of the disorder, even when compared to tremor. Thus, this research proposes an objective assessment of bradykinesia in patients with PD (G : 15 older adults with Parkinson's disease, 65.3 ± 9.1 years) and older adults (G: 12 healthy older adults, 60.1 ± 6.1 years). The severity of bradykinesia in the participants of G was assessed using the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale. Movement and muscular activity were detected by means of inertial (accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer) and electromyographic sensors while the participants performed wrist extension against gravity with the forearm on pronation. Mean and standard error of inertial and electromyographic signal parameters could discriminate PD patients from healthy older adults (p value<0.05). In discriminating patients with PD from healthy older adults, the mean sensitivity and specificity were respectively 86.67 and 83.33%. The discrimination between the groups, based on the objective evaluation of bradykinesia, may contribute to the accurate diagnosis of PD and to the monitoring of therapies to control parkinsonian bradykinesia, and opens the possibility for further comparative studies considering individuals suffering from other motor disorders.

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Introduction: The aim of this pilot study based on convenience sampling was to analyze the feasibility to quantitatively discriminate Trendelenburg sign (TS), a characteristic drop in pelvic position during gait in hip disfunctions, in patients with total hip arthroplasty (THA), by assessing gait variability and symmetry using inertial sensors. Methods: Thirteen patients with right THA, divided into two groups with (GTS, n=4) and without TS (GnTS, n=9) assessed by experienced physician, were enrolled in the study. Harris Hip Score was applied for specific evaluation of THA. The protocol consisted in walking on a level treadmill during 3 minutes with two inertial sensors attached at anterior superior iliac spine of both sides. For each left and right step, features were extracted from the Y-axis gyroscope signals: peak value, mean absolute value, standard deviation and range. For each feature, a symmetry ratio was calculated as the ratio between left and right side. Results: No significant differences were found in Harris Hip Score between groups. The variability assessed by standard deviation for left step, contralateral to the replaced side, was significantly larger for GTS group (p<0.001). Significant differences in the symmetry ratios were found between GTS and GnTS for all features extracted from gyroscopes Y-axis (W=144, p<0.001).The symmetry ratios for GnTS group were approximately equal one (except for range), whereas for the GTS group they exceed the 10% criterion. Conclusion: The variability and symmetry ratios of gait features extracted from inertial sensors were successful to discriminate TS in THA patients.

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