AI detects Parkinson's disease by tracking your breathing patterns

A compelling new study indicates Parkinson's disease (PD) could be diagnosed by remotely tracking a person's breathing patterns. Led by researchers from MIT, the study presents an AI system that uses radio waves to monitor breathing while a person sleeps. Dina Katabi, principal investigator on the new research, said the study was inspired by 200-year-old observations from James Parkinson, the first doctor to clinically catalog signs of the degenerative neurological disease. "A relationship between Parkinson's and breathing was noted as early as 1817, in the work of Dr. James Parkinson," explained Katabi. "This motivated us to consider the potential of detecting the disease from one's breathing without looking at movements. Some medical studies have shown that respiratory symptoms manifest years before motor symptoms, meaning that breathing attributes could be promising for risk assessment prior to Parkinson's diagnosis."