Our project is a closed-loop system designed to monitor and reduce tremors associated with Parkinson's disease. Parkinson's is a disease that affects millions of individuals worldwide, and is the 14th leading cause of death in the United States. The tremors associated with Parkinson's greatly affect the daily lives of those who live with the disease. The device uses an accelerometer to detect when a patient is experiencing tremors. The microcontroller on the wristband communicates via Bluetooth to a cell phone application that uses signal processing to determine if tremors are occurring. If tremors are occurring, an EMS machine is used to apply an electric pulse to the patient's wrist to mitigate the tremors. Based on the presence/non-presence of a tremor, the app sends commands back to the microcontroller. The microcontroller then implements logic to increase or decrease the amplitude of the EMS pulses that are being delivered to the patient. If tremors are not occurring for a duration of time, then the microcontroller will turn off the output of the EMS to prevent overstimulation of the muscles.
