Tech marvels: New voice recording app, Sony's smell test gadget make early Parkinson's diagnosis possible in mins

Experiencing sleeping difficulty or constipation may seem like an everyday problem, but these are some of the early signs of Parkinson's disease.

The root cause of this neurodegenerative brain disease is the degeneration of dopamine-producing cells in the substantia nigra - a small but crucial area located deep inside your brain.

The chemical dopamine carries signals within the motor brain circuits, and the problem happens when there isn't enough dopamine left for the brain.

The disease affects both men and women who are aged between 60 and 70 years. Family history of the disease affects male and female patients equally.

Parkinson's patients can ignore early signs like constipation, bladder issues, sleeping difficulty, speaking in a low/soft voice, loss of smell (hyposmia), tiny handwriting, and hunching, among others. Although an age-related condition, these symptoms of the nervous system disorder develop over several years.

The early signs can be very subtle at first and one must take them seriously if an individual is experiencing more than two symptoms.

In most cases, Parkinson's patients experience tremors, shaking, slowness (bradykinesia), stiffness/rigidity and imbalance at a later stage. Watch out for behavioural and movement changes.

New health-tech initiatives have been developed to make early detection of Parkinson's disease possible.

Let The Voice Guide You
A team of researchers from Melbourne's RMIT University have developed a new screening test app that can help with the early detection of Parkinson's disease and severe COVID-19.

The test, developed by engineers and neurologists, can produce accurate results using just people's voice recordings, according to the researchers.

Currently, a Parkinson's test can take up to 90 minutes, but this artificial intelligence-powered app produces results in just 10 seconds after recording a person's voice.

The voice of Parkinson's patients changes after they start developing the disease. This is where the app can assess their modulation and provide quick results.

In patients with pulmonary disease symptoms from COVID-19, there is also a change in the voice due to lung infection, which the device can detect.

Sony Steps In
Technology giant Sony launched a new gadget 'Olfactory Device' that can test an individual's sense of smell to determine the early signs of dementia or Parkinson's disease.

The new health-tech initiative also had two other names - NOS-DX1000 and Odor Presentation Device - that uses Tensor Valve technology for the tests. This technology is capable of extracting an odour and sealing in the smells from within the device.

According to Sony, the equipment can produce 40 different smells. During the test period, the device emits an odour and the participant uses an app to indicate that they smell.

The company has also stressed that this is a research device, and not a medical equipment.

A Nikkei Asia report said that the has been priced at a whopping $15,900 (or 2.3 million yen).