Frequency Detection Of Hand Tremors Using Customized Accelerometer

Abstract

Tremor can be defined as involuntary, rhythmic muscle contraction involving movements of one or more body parts, e.g. hands, arms, head, face, voice, trunk, and legs. This work aims to measure the frequency of hand tremors using a customized, reasonably accurate method to monitor the severity of tremors and reach a point where building hand tremors stabilizing system is possible to allow patients to overcome this problem. The data in this work was collected using an accelerometer attached to the patient’s index finger as it is involved in important daily life activities such as writing. The signal was obtained using a microcontroller and an Arduino Mega and has been processed using MATLAB software from Math Works, combined with an open-source Arduino Software, an Integrated Development Environment (IDE). The proposed method was applied to 30 patients with hand tremors from various diseases compared with a normal person as a source for a normal signal. The maximum frequency of hand tremors was around 7 Hz, which is in agreement with previous studies. We conclude that this technique can handle and measure very low tremor frequencies, which can be utilized in the future for building a tremor stabilizing device.