Ifmbe proceedings 29 - an automated method for levodopa-induced dyskinesia detection and severity classification
An Automated Method for Levodopa-Induced Dyskinesia Detection and Severity Classification
M.G. Tsipouras1, A.T. Tzallas1, G. Rigas1, P. Bougia1, D.I. Fotiadis1 and S. Konitsiotis2
1Unit of Medical Technology and Intelligent Information Systems,
Department of Material Science and Engineering, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece
2 Department of Neurology, Medical School, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece
Abstract— In this paper we propose an automated method
ology several computer-based methods are developed using
for Levodopa-induced dyskinesia (LID) detection and classifi-
quantitative instrumental techniques such as: movement
cation of its severity. The method is based on the analysis of
sensors (accelerometers and gyroscopes) [2-6], electromy-
the signals recorded from accelerometers which are placed on
ography (surface) [2,7], force gauges (which are instru-
certain positions on the patient’s body. The signals are ana-
ments used to measure the force during a push or pull tests)
lyzed using a moving window and several features are ex- tracted. Based on these features a decision tree is used to detect
[2,8], position transducers (force transducer that measured
if LID symptoms occur and classify them related to their se-
arm movements) [2,8] and Doppler ultrasound systems
verity. The method has been evaluated using a group of pa-
[2,8,9]. Methods which are based on accelerometer signal
tients and the obtained results indicate high classification
analysis, greatly differ in the body segments, from which
ability (95% classification accuracy). Furthermore, extensive
movements are measured, and the number of accelerometers
evaluation has been done in order to determine the optimal
per segment. A major challenge for a method that automati-
positioning of the sensors and the selection of the classification
cally assesses LID is to be able to distinguish dyskinesias
algorithm.
from voluntary movements. Most of the studies tried todetect LID focused on the frequency domain of the signals
Keywords— Levodopa-induced dyskinesia detection, Levodopa-induced dyskinesia severity classification, auto-
from the movement sensors, while time-domain features
mated diagnosis.
have also been used. Severity of LID has been determinedusing linear discriminate analysis and artificial neural net-works (ANNs). An important drawback of the aforemen-
tioned studies is the small number and the short-time oftasks involved as well the fact that they have been per-
Levodopa-induced dyskinesia (LID) is a disabling and
formed in laboratory settings. Keijsers et al. [6] monitored
distressing complication of chronic levodopa therapy in
patients while performing a large variety of daily life activi-
patients who suffered from Parkinson's disease [1]. LID is
ties in a natural environment for a long period of time. Hoff
more commonly known as a jerky, dance-like movement of
et al. [10] use a continuous ambulatory multi-channel accel-
the arms and/or head. These movements (called as choreic
erometry (CAMCA) to identify accelerometer characteris-
or dystonic) range from 1-5 Hz [1,2]. LID symptoms can be
rated in various ways by their topography (affected body
In this study we propose a method for LID detection and
regions), by their duration or consistency of effect, by the
classification of its severity. Six accelerometers are placed
disability they impart, by the extent of enhanced severity
on the patient’s body and the recorded signals are analyzed
from activation due to volitional movement and by the se-
in order to extract several features. The analysis is per-
verity [2]. The presence and severity of LID can change
formed using moving windows. All features extracted from
during the day and as such, detection, assessment and fol-
a specific window of the signal for all signals (from differ-
lowing the changes of these signs during daily activities are
ent sensors) form a feature vector that is used to detect if
of great interest. In addition, the effective characterization
LID symptoms which are present on this window and de-
and quantification of LID not only improves our under-
termine their severity. The classification technique that is
standing of its pathophysiological mechanisms, but also
employed is a decision tree. Several experimental settings
helps diagnosis and the evaluation of treatment.
related to the number of sensors used have been evaluated
Current assessment of LID mainly relies on clinical me-
and the results are presented. In addition, based on the best
thods [2,3]. Unfortunately, clinical methods lack objectivity
experimental settings determined from the above analysis,
and they are not feasible for long-term assessment by the
other classifications techniques are also tested and the ob-
experts [2,4]. To overcome the limitations of subjective
assessment of LID and to gain insight into their pathophysi-
P.D. Bamidis and N. Pallikarakis (Eds.): MEDICON 2010, IFMBE Proceedings 29, pp. 590. www.springerlink.com
An Automated Method for Levodopa-Induced Dyskinesia Detection and Severity Classification
three signals, one for each axis (x,y and z axis). The abovesensor’s placement on the patient’s body is illustrated inFig. 1. All sensors transmit data using Bluetooth to a porta-
ble PC equipped with data acquisition hardware and soft-
In this study three patients, two males (aged 65 and 75
ware to collect and store the signals. The sensors’ size is no
years) and one female (aged 60 years) were enrolled. They
bigger than a matchbox. Sensors on the arms and legs are
suffered from LID and showed a severity of LID varying
attached on specially designed elastic bands which allow
between no dyskinesia to moderate (rating between 0 and 3
fixation to any wrist or ankle size. Sampling rate is set to
on the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scales (UPDRS)
[11]. The experiments were approved by the Medical Ethi-cal Committee of the Hospital of the University of Ioanninain Greece.
Following a standard procedure, used also in clinical tri-
als with medication which accepted in the literature, pa-tients should have received the last dose of their medica-tions 12 hrs before testing time, which is usually around 8pm of the night before. Twelve hours after the last dose ofmedication the patient is expected to be in the “off” state. Recording started with the patient always being in the “off”state and lying on his bed. The protocol consists of threemajor tasks:
Fig. 1 Schematic overview of the position of
accelerometers on the patient’s body.
x rising from the bed and sitting on a chair located just
x standing up from the chair and performing a series of
activities (for totally of approximately 8 min): walking
The recorded signals are used for feature extraction. A
for a distance of 5 m, opening a door, closing the door,
moving window with 2 seconds duration and 1.75 seconds
opening the door step out of the room, walking in the
antepossition is used over a single lead and, for each win-
corridor for a straight distance of 10 m, returning in
dow the mean value of the signal is calculated:
the room, making a stop, drinking a few sips from a
glass of water, returning to the chair.
Then, the patient takes his first dose of medication for that
݅ ݆) is the mean value of the ݆ݐ݄ window of the ݅ݐ݄
day and when he turns “on” (verified on site by an expert
signal, ݂ݏ is the sampling frequency, ݓ(݆) is the time posi-
neurologist), another cycle of recording with the above
prespecified tasks follows. If the patient had LID (while in
݅ݐ݄ signal. The above procedure is applied to each recorded
the “on” state) then the recording is selected for this study.
signal. Then, very slow movements are modeled:
UPDRS obtained immediately before the patient started
performing the predefined tasks. The final annotation re-
lated to the LID severity based on UPDRS is made based onvideo recordings obtained during the protocol procedure
and subsequently subtracted from the recorded signals:
A moving window with 2 seconds duration and 1.75
seconds anteposition is used over a single lead and for each
The movements and postures are measured using accele-
window the standard deviation of the signal is calculated:
rometers and a portable data recorder. Six sets of three or-
thogonal accelerometers (ANCO Devices [12]) are used.
These are placed at six different positions of the body: rightand left wrist (LW and RW), right and left leg (LL and RL),
݅ ݆) is the standard deviation of the ݆ݐ݄ window of
chest (CH) and waist (WS). Each accelerometer records
ഥ݅ is the corresponding mean value.
Table 2 Classification Accuracy (%) of the Experimental Settings
For each window a feature vector is created. This vector
the dimension of the feature vector is 2 כ 3ܰ, where ܰ is
the number positions on the patient’s body (for each posi-
tion three signals are recorded). This feature vector is used
for LID assessment using a decision tree. Decision trees are
a widely used classification technique. They represent theacquired knowledge in the form of a tree. The tree can be
easily transformed to a set of rules with mutually exclusive
The construction of the decision tree is implemented us-
ing the C4.5 inductive algorithm [13]. This algorithm con-
structs a decision tree from the training data. Each internal
node of the tree corresponds to a principal component,
while each outgoing branch corresponds to a possible range
of that component. The leaf nodes represent the class to beassigned to a sample. The C4.5 algorithm applies to a set of
data and generates a decision-tree, which minimizes the
expected value of the number of tests for the classification
Based on the signal analysis described above a classifica-
tion dataset was formed. The number of instances related to
the patients and the LID severity are shown in Table 1.
Table 1 The Dataset used in this Study.
other classifiers are evaluated. This include Naive BayesClassifier (NBC), k- Nearest Neighbour (k-NN), Fuzzy
Lattice Reasoning (FLR [14]), Decision Trees (C4.5) and
Random Forests (RF [15]). The results in terms of classifi-
cation accuracy (%) are presented in Table 3.
Table 3 Classification Accuracy (%) for the 21 and 22
Several different experimental settings have been used,
related to the combination of signals which are used for LID
assessment. For each one of them, results are obtained in
terms of sensitivity, specificity and classification accuracy. The 10-fold stratified cross validation is used in all cases.
The various combinations of signals used in each experi-
mental setting and the obtained classification accuracy are
Additionally, for the final two experimental settings i.e.
the hands, legs and chest sensors (setting 22 in Table 2) and
hands, legs and waist sensors (setting 23 in Table 2),
An Automated Method for Levodopa-Induced Dyskinesia Detection and Severity Classification
A method for the automated LID detection and classifica-
Keijsers NL, Horstin MW and Gielen SC et al (2003) Online Moni-toring of Dyskinesia in Patients with Parkinson’s disease. IEEE Eng
tion of its severity based on the analysis of signals obtained
by accelerometers placed on the patient’s body is presented.
Hoff JI, van Hilten BJ and Roos RA (2001) A review of the assess-
The method has been evaluated using recordings from three
ment of dyskinesias. Mov Disord 14(5): 737 – 743
patients that presented LID severities 0 to 3 at the UPDRS.
Keijsers NL, Horstin MW and Gielen SC (2003) Movement parame-ters that distinguish between voluntary movements and levodopa-
The features extracted from the signals carry sufficient
induced dyskinesia in Parkinson's disease. Hum Mov Sci 22(1): 67-89
information for the LID severity detection and classification
Burkhard PR, Shale H, Langston JW and Tetrud JW (1999). Quantifi-
since they are the local mean value, which is related to very
cation of dyskinesia in Parkinson's disease: validation of a novel in-
slow dystonic movements, and local standard deviation,
strumental method. Mov Disord 14(5):754-63
Keijsers NL, Horstink MW, van Hilten JJ, Hoff JI and Gielen SC
which depicts the faster jerky, dance-like movement of the
(2000) Detection and assessment of the severity of Levodopa-induced
limps and/or head. LID effects may be present in a single
dyskinesia in patients with Parkinson’s Disease by neural networks.
part of the patient’s body (i.e. only one hand) or to several
(i.e. both hands and head). Also, the effects may be present
Keijsers NL, Horstink MW and Gielen SC (2003) Automatic assess-ment of Levodopa-induced dyskinesias in daily life by neural net-
in the limps (hands/legs) or affect the whole body
(waist/chest). Thus, the feature vector included accelerome-
Yanagisawa N (1984) EMG characteristics of involuntary move-
ter signals from several positions of the patient’s body. The
ments. In: Dyskinesias. Bruyn GW, Ed. Sandoz BV, Uden, 142-159
obtained results indicate that the proposed method is highly
Xuguang Liu, Carroll CB, Wang SY, Zajicek J and Bain PG (2005)Quantifying drug-induced dyskinesias in the arms using digitized spi-
efficient for automated LID severity detection and classifi-
ral-drawing tasks, J Neurosc Meth 144(1): 47-52
Haines J and Sainsbury P (1972) Ultrasound system for measuring
The results presented in Table 2 indicate that experimen-
patients' activity and disorders of movement. Lancet 14:2(7781):802-
tal settings that include signals from almost all positions of
10. Hoff JI, van den Plas AA, Wagemans EA, and van Hilten JJ (2001)
the patient’s body present the best results. However, this
Accelerometric assessment of levodopa-induced dyskinesias in Park-
conclusion was anticipated since (as mentioned earlier) LID
effects may be present to a single or to several parts of the
11. Fahn S, Elton R (1987) UPDRS Development Committee. Unified
patient’s body. This also confirms that in our dataset the
Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale. In: Fahn S, Marsden C, Calne D,eds. Recent Developments in Parkinson’s Disease. Florham Park, NJ:
presence of LID effects to the patient’s body is time varying
Macmillan Health Care Information, 153–164
i.e. the same patient may presents LID effects in different
parts of his body for different time intervals. Thus, a method
13. Quinlan JR (1993) C4.5: Morgan Kauffman California
that is based on a selection that includes signals from sev-
14. Hoff JI, van den Plas AA, Wagemans EA, and van Hilten JJ (2001)
Accelerometric assessment of levodopa-induced dyskinesias in Park-
eral position of the patient’s body (such as experimental
settings 22 and 23) is expected to present the best results
15. Fahn S, Elton R (1987) UPDRS Development Committee. Unified
(compared to selections that include a limited number of
Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale. In: Fahn S, Marsden C, Calne D,
eds. Recent Developments in Parkinson’s Disease. Florham Park, NJ:Macmillan Health Care Information, 153–164
In this study, the classification technique that is selected
is a decision tree based on the C4.5 algorithm. The results
presented in Table 3 indicate that a selection of a more
Institute: Department of Material Science and Engineering, Universi-
advanced technique, such as random forests, does not im-
prove significantly the obtained results.
This work is part funded by the ICT program of the Eu-
ropean Commission (PERFORM Project: FP7-ICT-2007-1-215952).
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