A study found that drawing a simple spiral can determine whether a person has Parkinson's disease, far enough in advance to avoid brain damage.
The new diagnostic approach developed by Australian scientists is the first to be able to detect the disease early enough for preventive treatment.
The automatic program works by analyzing how long it takes for volunteers to draw a spiral on a tablet, how much pressure they apply, and the features of the lines.
At present, Parkinson's disease is often diagnosed when a person already has tremor and stiffness, and by that stage many of their dopamine-
Brain cells have died.
The earlier doctors can implement treatment, the greater the number of neurons they can preserve, which greatly slows the progress of the disease.
Scientists already know that symptoms that occur early in the disease can interfere with a person's ability to write or sketch.
The Helix is considered a reasonable test because, unlike writing words, patient education is unlikely to affect quality.
However, the current approach requires well-trained experts to interpret the sketch, which means that the tool is not widely used.
In contrast, the new tablet program promises ease of use, which means that any family doctor can operate.
Professor Dinesh Kuman said: "It is crucial to delay the time the treatment starts because we know that it may be too late when someone starts to experience tremor or stiffness," from RMIT University in Melbourne, lead the study.
Patients with Parkinson's tend to move the pen more slowly when drawing sketches, and apply less pressure on the page.
The study, published in the journal Neurology frontier, claimed that their new system could automatically detect whether users had Parkinson's disease, with an accuracy rate of 93.
Hardware includes A3-
A size drawing tablet with dotted lines, indicating the shape of the spiral.
The pen reads the average downward pressure of each shape, combined with the time it takes to complete the spiral. Twenty-
Seven Parkinson's patients in their 60 s and 70 s were tested on the system, as well as 28 non-Parkinson's patients of comparable age.
"Our goal is to develop an affordable automated electronic system for the early days.
"Stage diagnosis of Parkinson's disease, community doctors or caregivers can be used easily," said Poonam Zham, another researcher . ".
"The system can automatically provide accurate diagnosis of Parkinson's disease and can also be used to monitor the impact of treatment on the disease.
He added that the device could be used as part of routine screening for the disease, which could be done every few years after middle age.
Data from Australian studies need to be enhanced by use in a large number of patients before they can be introduced to GP surgery in general.
Parkinson's disease, which has not yet been cured, is caused by the loss of some nerve cells in the brain called the nigra department, resulting in a decrease in chemical dopamine.
Approximately 160,000 people are expected to be affected by Parkinson's disease by 2020.
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