Bhawna Shiwani, Delsys Research fellow at Worcester Polytechnic Institute presented her M.S. Thesis proposal on “Autonomous tracking of bradykinesia during unconstrained activities in Parkinson’s disease” on December 6th 2016. Bradykinesia is one of the earliest and most prevalent yet poorly measured motor symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease (PD). The slowness and paucity of movement that are typical of bradykinesia often leads to it being hidden within the context of normal activities of daily living (ADL). Ms. Shiwani presented her work to design a robust algorithm capable of real-time automated detection of motor symptoms of whole body bradykinesia during unconstrained ADL using sensor data. The algorithm utilizes EMG and IMU data from muscle activation and limb movement, respectively, to deduce the presence and severity of bradykinesia. When integrated into a body-worn ambulatory device, the proposed algorithm will help clinicians with a better understanding of disease progression; ultimately helping with the better management of disease symptoms by optimal dopamine titration.
Bhawna Shiwani
Research Engineer
Altec, Inc.
Bhawna Shiwani is a Research fellow at Delsys Inc. She received her B.E. in Electronics and Communication Engineering from National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, India in 2012 and she is currently pursuing her M.S. in Robotics Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA. She was previously employed by Cadence Design Systems, Noida, India where she worked as a Member of Technical Staff in Analog Design Environment team. Her current research interests include artificial intelligence, control theory and cyber physical systems.