It’s thought that subtle changes in a person’s sleep patterns may be noticed long before Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease shows more overt symptoms. It aims to see if it can be detected on similar devices so that actions can be taken more quickly.
The four-year PANDA (Progression Assessment in Neurodegenerative Disorders of Aging) project is a collaboration between Denmark’s Aarhus University, Ligschospitalet University, and healthtech company T&W Engineering. It centers around an experimental device known as Ear-EEG (Electroencephalography).
Wearables designed by Aarhus appear Just like standard earbuds, they actually monitor electrical activity in the brain by measuring minute voltage changes on the skin surface within the ear canal.
It is also equipped with an oximeter to measure blood oxygen levels, a thermometer to measure body temperature, and a microphone to monitor heart rate and respiration.
Aarhus University / Sebastian Krog Knudsen
Unlike existing sleep monitoring systems that require you to sleep in a doctor’s office for several nights while being wired to numerous electrodes, Ear EEG can be used at home for long periods of time. Plus, it’s less intrusive than traditional setups, so it should better indicate the wearer’s natural and normal sleep patterns.
Plans should test the device on a group of volunteers with and without Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease to see if they consistently show detectable patterns in their sleep patterns. of group of them. If this research is successful, it is hoped that people at risk for the disease will finally be able to use ear EEGs to monitor their sleep patterns for days or weeks each year.
“Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s are diseases that creep over the years,” said Professor Preven Kidmorth of Aarhus University. “Diagnosis is typically so late that the only treatment option is to treat the symptoms. This project seeks to identify the signs of the two diseases 10 to 15 years before the first problems start to occur. , enabling much better treatment options.”
Source: Aarhus University by EurekAlert
