URI students invent Parkinson’s wristband

SOUTH KINGSTOWN – A smart wristband invented by University of Rhode Island students to monitor Parkinson’s disease was a finalist in a recent international design competition.

The wristband – called “TeleTremor” – uses high-tech motion sensors to detect tremors and movement difficulties in people with Parkinson’s disease.

It then sends the information to doctors over a secure Internet connection. Using special visualizations, TeleTremor enables neurologists to make more informed decisions by measuring the effect of prescribed medications and the progression of the disease, according to information from URI.

Senior biomedical engineering major Trevor Bernier, of Taunton, Mass., sophomore computer engineering major Joseph Tudino, of Scituate, and junior electrical engineering major Akintoye Onikoyi, of Providence, designed the system and built the prototype. Lab technician Tanya Wang assisted.

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“We each had different skills and different interests, and we put them together to design this system,” Onikoyi said in a statement. “It will help Parkinson’s patients be monitored more frequently from the comfort of their own homes, since they have trouble getting to doctor appointments because of their condition.”

Tudino said that the project has made him think about the role of wearable technology and how the technology “of the future will be small, subtle and supplement our lives.”

The device, which is still being worked on to improve such things as battery life and comfort, was recognized as one of 23 finalists at the International Undergraduate Global Health Technologies Design Competition at Rice University in Houston last month.

“TeleTremor is a product of URI’s continuous efforts to nurture excellence, leadership, innovation and real-world experience through collaboration in our next generation of engineers who are acquiring the right skills for today’s highly dynamic marketplace,” Kunal Mankodiya, URI assistant professor of biomedical engineering who studies wearable biosensors and advised the student team, said in prepared remarks.

Another team of students is working on a smartwatch system that can monitor vital signs and send the information to doctors over the Internet.

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