Human radar’ device tracks movement, gait speed of Parkinson’s patients at home

“Researchers from MIT and the University of Rochester have built a wireless device that uses radio signals to pick up on the movements of Parkinson’s patients throughout their own homes, creating what the research team has termed “human radar.”   The device is approximately the size of a Wi-Fi router but emits signals with only a fraction of the power of a router. The low-power radio waves pass through solid objects in a patient’s home, like walls and furniture, but bounce off humans due to the water content of the body.  Because radio waves always travel at the same speed, the device can calculate a person’s walking speed by analyzing how long it takes for the waves to bounce back to it. It’s equipped with machine learning algorithms that can pinpoint which of those reflected waves came from a specific patient and then use those readings to calculate gait speed.”     MORE

Image Credit:  FierceBiotech.com