The US computer technology and services firm IBM has developed a small sensor unit that can be attached to a person´s fingernails to help monitor the effectiveness of drugs used to treat the symptoms of Parkinson´s disease, "(Parkinson´s disease) and other diseases.
The new device, which works with a computer program to analyze data, measures the tendency of a person´s fingertips when a person tries to hold on to anything. Any muscular activity involves holding a large amount of data analyzed by the program to determine the development of the patient´s health .
TechCrunch, a technology specialist, said the sensor unit could also be installed on the patient´s skin to monitor body movement and the state of health of muscles and nerves. The researchers at the American company that the sensor units that are installed on the skin can lead to many problems, including the patient´s infection with a microbial, so they decided to rely on the use of data obtained through the movement of fingernails.
Because the movement of the nails is very simple, the sensor unit used must be very sensitive to movement. The change in the position of the nails, whether it is tendency or movement, is done in stereotypical ways when we use it to hold on to something and catch it or even when we hold or extend the fingers, the researchers at the American company say.
The researchers said the change was in an area of ​​less than 10 microns and therefore could not be observed with the naked eye. However, it can be monitored through sensor units. The diameter of normal human hair ranges from 50 to 100 microns, while the size of red blood cell is less than 10 microns.
