Literature review on assistive technologies for people with Parkinson's disease

TL;DR

This review comprehensively examines assistive technologies for Parkinson's disease, highlighting current innovations, their impact on motor symptoms, and identifying gaps in addressing non-motor symptoms to guide future research.

Contribution

It provides a broad overview of existing ATs for PD, emphasizing emerging AI, ML, and IoT applications, and identifies key gaps in non-motor symptom management.

Findings

Assistive technologies significantly improve motor symptom management.

Emerging AI, ML, and IoT have high potential for personalized PD care.

Gaps remain in addressing non-motor symptoms like sleep and mental health.

Abstract

Parkinson's Disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that significantly impacts motor and non-motor functions. There is currently no treatment that slows or stops neurodegeneration in PD. In this context, assistive technologies (ATs) have emerged as vital tools to aid people with Parkinson's and significantly improve their quality of life. This review explores a broad spectrum of ATs, including wearable and cueing devices, exoskeletons, robotics, virtual reality, voice and video-assisted technologies, and emerging innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and the Internet of Things (IoT). The review highlights ATs' significant role in addressing motor symptoms such as freezing of gait (FOG) and gait and posture disorders. However, it also identifies significant gaps in addressing non-motor symptoms such as sleep dysfunction and mental health. Similarly, the research identifies substantial potential in the further implementation of deep learning, AI, IOT technologies. Overall, this review highlights the transformative potential of AT in PD management while identifying gaps that future research should address to ensure personalized, accessible, and effective solutions.