Researchers from IBM Develops a Device that Can Check Disease Progression

This new invention by IBM will now help people to check disease progression. The company has developed a tiny sensor that can monitor the effectiveness of drugs used to fight the symptoms of Parkinson’s and various other diseases.

To use the device, people need to attach the device on their fingernails. Once monitoring is done, there is custom software which helps to analyzethe results.

There is another way to collect the data, users can attach the device on their skin and capture motion along with the muscle’s health and nerves in the same manner. But it has been found that skin-based sensors can cause infections and other problems, therefore the team decided to stick the fingernails.

According to the researchers, the sensors were made sensitive because most part, though, fingernails don’t bend all that much. The fingernails deform, bend and move while people use them for grasping, gripping and flexing.

The latest version of the device is created by sticking the prototype with the nail. Its sensors communicate with a smartwatch that operates ML models to identify tremors and various symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. The model can spot what a person is doing (like using a screwdriver, etc.).

In the course of time, the researchers believe that the device’s prototype and models are extended so that it can analyze the data to identify other diseases too. The device will not be available in the market soon.