Objective: The objective of our study was to objectively measure the rigidity in PD patients, using a recently validated robotic device.

Background: Rigidity is one of the cardinal symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD), which responds best to dopamine, but the pathogenesis is not yet understood. The assessment remains subjective depending on the examiner, and tremor may interfere with the assessment. A reliable measure of rigidity will allow determine more precisely the dopamine response and its interaction with bradykinesia for a better understanding of the pathophysiology of PD.

Method: We studied 35 PD patients with (n=20) and without tremor (n= 15), and 10 healthy subjects (HS). All participants underwent clinical evaluation including MDS-UPDRS. The rigidity was assessed with the device, which measures the resistance of passive wrist flexion and extension movements at different speeds. PD patients with tremor underwent an additional tremor recording with surface EMG, inertial monitors and a writing tablet.

Results: Preliminary results show that the device records a hysteresis-shaped rigidity profile consistent with the literature, which differentiates PD patients from HS and correlates significantly with the UPDRS scores for rigidity. In PD patients with tremor, the device detects the tremor frequency, which correlates with the conventional tremor recording.

Conclusion: This device provides a reliable measure of rigidity for clinical studies and practice.

References: This abstract was accepted for an epresentation at the European Accademy of Neurology in Paris, may 23-26 2020

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/a-reliable-measure-of-rigidity-with-a-novel-robotic-device/