Detection of Arm Swing Limitations in Simulated Parkinson’s Disease Gait Conditions: A Pilot Study

Carlos Polvorinos-Fernández, Luis Sigcha, María Centeno-Cerrato, Elena Muñoz-Bellido, César Asensio, Juan M. López, Guillermo de Arcas, Ignacio Pavón

2025

Abstract

Human gait is a biomechanical process vital to health, with abnormalities often linked to neurological disorders like Parkinson's disease (PD). In PD patients, arm swing during walking becomes asymmetric and reduced in amplitude, providing a potential biomarker for early diagnosis and monitoring disease progression. This pilot study focuses on detecting variations in arm swing amplitude and asymmetry using data collected from smartwatches worn by 24 participants under different gait conditions. Participants walked while carrying progressively heavier loads (0 kg, 2 kg, and 4 kg) to simulate restricted arm swing. Machine learning models were developed to classify these conditions using accelerometer and gyroscope data. Results showed that the K-Nearest Neighbours algorithm performed best, achieving up to 94.3% accuracy. Although the models effectively distinguished between load and no-load conditions, it was difficult to differentiate between different load levels. These findings highlight the potential of wearable devices for PD gait analysis, though further refinement and testing with PD patients are needed for clinical application.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Polvorinos-Fernández C., Sigcha L., Centeno-Cerrato M., Muñoz-Bellido E., Asensio C., López J., de Arcas G. and Pavón I. (2025). Detection of Arm Swing Limitations in Simulated Parkinson’s Disease Gait Conditions: A Pilot Study. In Proceedings of the 18th International Joint Conference on Biomedical Engineering Systems and Technologies - Volume 2: WHC; ISBN 978-989-758-731-3, SciTePress, pages 1029-1036. DOI: 10.5220/0013231600003911

in Bibtex Style

@conference{whc25,
author={Carlos Polvorinos-Fernández and Luis Sigcha and María Centeno-Cerrato and Elena Muñoz-Bellido and César Asensio and Juan López and Guillermo de Arcas and Ignacio Pavón},
title={Detection of Arm Swing Limitations in Simulated Parkinson’s Disease Gait Conditions: A Pilot Study},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 18th International Joint Conference on Biomedical Engineering Systems and Technologies - Volume 2: WHC},
year={2025},
pages={1029-1036},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0013231600003911},
isbn={978-989-758-731-3},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF

JO - Proceedings of the 18th International Joint Conference on Biomedical Engineering Systems and Technologies - Volume 2: WHC
TI - Detection of Arm Swing Limitations in Simulated Parkinson’s Disease Gait Conditions: A Pilot Study
SN - 978-989-758-731-3
AU - Polvorinos-Fernández C.
AU - Sigcha L.
AU - Centeno-Cerrato M.
AU - Muñoz-Bellido E.
AU - Asensio C.
AU - López J.
AU - de Arcas G.
AU - Pavón I.
PY - 2025
SP - 1029
EP - 1036
DO - 10.5220/0013231600003911
PB - SciTePress