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Updated: May 14, 2026
Home-Based Monitor for Gait and Activity Analysis
Published on: August 8, 2019
Using a smart phone as a standalone platform for detection and monitoring of pathological tremors
Jean-François Daneault1, Benoit Carignan, Carl Éric Codère
1Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University Montreal, QC, Canada ; Centre de Recherche de l'Institut, Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal Montréal, QC, Canada.
Introduction:
Smart phones are becoming ubiquitous and their computing capabilities are ever increasing. Consequently, more attention is geared toward their potential use in research and medical settings. For instance, their built-in hardware can provide quantitative data for different movements. Therefore, the goal of the current study was to evaluate the capabilities of a standalone smart phone platform to characterize tremor.
Results:
Algorithms for tremor recording and online analysis can be implemented within a smart phone. The smart phone provides reliable time- and frequency-domain tremor characteristics. The smart phone can also provide medically relevant tremor assessments.
Discussion:
Smart phones have the potential to provide researchers and clinicians with quantitative short- and long-term tremor assessments that are currently not easily available.
Methods:
A smart phone application for tremor quantification and online analysis was developed. Then, smart phone results were compared to those obtained simultaneously with a laboratory accelerometer. Finally, results from the smart phone were compared to clinical tremor assessments.
