Smart watches could detect Parkinson’s before symptoms appear

Smart watches could identify Parkinson’s disease up to seven years before hallmark symptoms appear and a clinical diagnosis can be made, new research reveals.

The study was led by scientists at the Medical Research Council-funded (MRC) UK Dementia Research Institute at Cardiff University and Dr Kathryn Peall, an MRC Clinician-Scientist Fellow at Cardiff University.

The researchers analysed data collected by smart watches over a seven-day period measuring participants’ speed of movement.

They found that they could accurately predict, using artificial intelligence (AI), those who would go on to later develop Parkinson’s disease.

Researchers say this could be used as a new screening tool for Parkinson’s disease, which would enable detection of the disorder at a much earlier stage than current methods allow.

Study leader Dr Cynthia Sandor, Emerging Leader at the UK Dementia Research Institute at Cardiff University, says, ‘Smart watch data is easily accessible and low-cost…By using this type of data, we would potentially be able to identify individuals in the very early stages of Parkinson’s disease within the general population.’