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Medscape
3 days ago
- Health
- Medscape
AI Pen Accurately Diagnoses Early PD via Handwriting
Biomedical engineers have developed an artificial intelligence (AI)–enhanced pen for personalized handwriting analysis to aid in the early diagnosis of Parkinson's disease (PD). In a small pilot study, the 'diagnostic pen' accurately recorded handwriting signals, and neural network-assisted analysis successfully distinguished PD from non-PD handwriting with greater than 95% accuracy. 'Further validation through large-scale human studies is necessary to confirm the diagnostic effectiveness of the pen,' first author Guorui (Gary) Chen, PhD candidate, Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, told Medscape Medical News . 'While significant research and development are still required, we are optimistic about its potential for future use in both clinical and home settings,' Chen said. The study was published online on June 2 in Nature Chemical Engineering . High Unmet Clinical Need PD is one of the fastest-growing neurodegenerative disorders, affecting over 10 million people worldwide. PD is typically diagnosed through subjective observation of motor symptoms like tremors and rigidity. However, this approach lacks objective precision and is inaccessible in many regions due to a shortage of neurologists and expensive diagnostic methods. A quantitative, low-cost, and accessible method for PD diagnosis in large populations remains an unmet need. Handwriting, which requires fine motor control, is affected early in PD and could help fill this need. The pen Chen and colleagues developed comprises a soft magnetoelastic silicone tip embedded with magnetic particles and a reservoir of ferrofluid ink. These components convert handwriting motions — both on paper and in the air — into high-fidelity, analyzable electrical signals. In the pilot study involving three patients with PD and 13 healthy participants, the diagnostic pen accurately captured biometric handwriting data, and neural network-assisted analysis distinguished PD from non-PD handwriting with 96.22% accuracy. 'This diagnostic pen technology could offer an innovative pathway to complement existing PD diagnostic methods by supporting a crowd-sourced approach, facilitating early detection in large populations,' Chen and colleagues wrote. It may be particularly beneficial for individuals who may not yet recognize that they could have PD and for those in resource-limited regions where access to medical diagnostics using chemical biomarkers is scarce, they added. Chen cautioned that the pilot study involved a limited cohort, including patients who had already been diagnosed with PD by physicians and were subsequently enrolled in the study. 'Future work could focus on evaluating the pen's potential for early screening in broader populations through larger-scale human studies, which may open the door to both physician-directed use and patient-initiated assessments,' Chen told Medscape Medical News . Elegant Tool and Exciting Concept Reached for comment, Shaheen Lakhan, MD, neurologist and researcher based in Miami, said the diagnostic pen is 'a clever fusion of materials science and signal processing, but it fits into a broader movement in neurology, using fine motor signatures as digital biomarkers. We already see this with keystroke dynamics, touchscreen taps, and voice analysis. In that context, this pen is not a breakthrough but a thoughtful variation on a theme.' 'What makes it stand out is its self-powered, screenless design. It captures both on-surface and in-air movements without the need for apps, tablets, or electricity. That simplicity could prove useful in rural clinics, low-resource environments, and aging populations less comfortable with digital technology. This pen may not revolutionize diagnosis, but it democratizes access,' Lakhan told Medscape Medical News . diagnosis? 'Right now, we have no approved disease-modifying therapy for Parkinson's, especially in the asymptomatic or prodromal stages. Even if a pen flags subtle motor changes, clinical management does not fundamentally change. However, it enables earlier counseling, monitoring, and research enrollment in the quest for disease-modifying therapy,' Lakhan said. 'It's an elegant tool. But whether it's truly useful will depend not just on how early it detects disease but whether we're ready to act on what it finds,' Lakhan noted. He said the promise is also tempered by the fact that the study involved only three patients with PD. 'While the early data are promising, the clinical utility, real-world usability, and human factors remain largely untested. Without broader validation, this remains a prototype in search of a clinical pathway,' Lakhan said. 'As a neuroscientist, I do find the concept exciting. Handwriting is a remarkably rich motor task, involving basal ganglia circuits, proprioception, and executive planning. Capturing these micro-signals in real time could open doors beyond Parkinson's, into cognitive disorders, neuromotor decline, and more. The real promise isn't the pen, it's what we can eventually do with the data,' Lakhan added.
The Guardian
5 days ago
- Health
- The Guardian
Magnetic 3D-printed pen could help diagnose people with Parkinson's
It won't be much good for taking down notes, but a 3D-printed pen filled with magnetic ink could help identify people with Parkinson's disease, a small pilot study suggests. More than 10 million people worldwide are thought to be living with Parkinson's, a neurodegenerative disorder with symptoms including tremors, rigidity, slowness of movement and mobility difficulties. While there is no cure, early diagnosis can help those affected access support and treatments earlier. However, the team behind the new work note diagnostic methods based on observations of motor symptoms are often inefficient and lack objectivity, while those based on biomarkers – such as levels of substances in the cerebrospinal fluid – often involve specialist equipment and highly-trained healthcare professionals. Now they say they have developed a pen that can capture tell-tale motion signs to determine if an individual has Parkinson's. 'It is very cost-effective and fully accessible for lower income countries,' said Prof Jun Chen, co-author of the study from the University of California, Los Angeles, adding that the system would be linked to a phone app to analyse the results. Writing in the journal Nature Chemical Engineering, the researchers report how they created a pen containing a soft, silicone tip embedded with magnetic particles. The pen was then loaded with an ink that contained tiny floating particles that were magnetised by the tip. When the pen is applied to a surface, the magnetic properties of the tip change. This, together with the dynamic movement of the ink during handwriting, produces a voltage in a metal coil within the pen, resulting in current signals, which are recorded. 'We are using the handwriting-generated electrical signal to quantify the tremor during [writing],' said Chen. The team found signals made when participants drew wavy lines, spirals or writing – both on surfaces and in the air – accurately captured the movements. They then used a variety of machine learning models – a type of artificial intelligence – to classify handwriting signals from 16 participants, three of whom had Parkinson's disease. The researchers found that, after training, one model was able to distinguish patients with Parkinson's from healthy participants with an average accuracy of 96.22%. Chrystalina Antoniades, an associate professor of clinical neuroscience at the University of Oxford who was not involved in the work, said people with Parkinson's often developed smaller handwriting than normal – although this was often seen once symptoms of the condition have begun. But while Antoniades said the pen-based approach was interesting and intriguing, she added that further testing was required, and many other approaches for early diagnosis of Parkinson's were also in development. 'What I always say is that you can't just have one biomarker. This [pen] is diagnosing the problem with handwriting, which is just one of the many symptoms that we see in our patients,' Antoniades said. 'But it can be complementing what we already found, picking up something that might be difficult to see.' Becky Jones, the research communications manager at Parkinson's UK, also welcomed the work, noting there was still no definitive test for Parkinson's. 'While this study is very small, involving just three people with Parkinson's, it offers a new way of thinking about diagnosis by measuring changes in handwriting, which can be an early symptom,' she said. 'We now need larger, more diverse studies, to better understand the potential of this method and how it might support earlier and more accurate diagnoses in the future.'
The Guardian
24-03-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
Scientists develop injection for long-lasting contraceptive implant
Researchers are developing an injection that creates a contraceptive implant in the body using an approach that could herald a new way of delivering drugs over long periods of time. Current contraceptive implants last for years, meaning women do not have to take a pill every day, but the devices must be fitted by a trained professional via a small surgical procedure. Contraceptive injections are already available but they have limitations, including that they last for only three months. Now scientists say they have completed proof-of-concept experiments for a new type of long-lasting implant that self-assembles in the body. While not yet tested in humans, the researchers behind the work say the approach could bring benefits beyond the field of birth control, offering a simple way to administer long-acting drug delivery systems without the need for invasive procedures – an appealing prospect for parts of the world with poor medical infrastructure. 'It's suitable for any poorly soluble hydrophobic drug, especially where long-acting delivery is needed. This includes treatments for HIV, TB, schizophrenia, chronic pain, or metabolic disease,' said Dr Giovanni Traverso, a co-author of the study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a gastroenterologist at Brigham and Women's hospital in the US. The approach involves injecting micro-crystals of a synthetic version of the hormone progesterone contained in a solvent that does not mix well with water. Once in the body, the solvent exchanges with bodily fluid. However, the micro-crystals prefer to clump together than interact with this water-rich environment. This, together with the formation of further crystals as the solvents exchange, results in the development of a solid implant, capable of releasing the drug slowly over time. The team, whose study was published in the journal Nature Chemical Engineering, tested the approach in rats, allowing them to refine the choice of solvent in the injection. The drug release in rats was sustained for at least 97 days, although Traverso said there was potential for longer durations depending on formulation adjustments. 'The dosing and volumes of drug are compatible with multi-year dosing,' he said, adding that the formation of a solid implant means it can be removed if required, while the approach is also compatible with the use of small needles. However, the research is still in its early stages, with the efficacy of the approach yet to be tested. 'It lays the groundwork for future human studies which we hope will start in the next three to five years,' Traverso said. Dr Janet Barter, the president of the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare, said the approach could be an exciting advancement. 'This innovation has the potential to be convenient option for individuals in low-resource settings, where access to contraception and healthcare services can be limited,' she said. 'We welcome further research into the safety, efficacy, and the accessibility of this promising technology and encourage the authors to work with potential users in future to ensure they meet the needs and preferences of those who will rely on it.'
