{"id":2662762,"date":"2021-11-30T13:46:02","date_gmt":"2021-11-30T18:46:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.futurity.org\/?p=2662762"},"modified":"2021-11-30T13:46:25","modified_gmt":"2021-11-30T18:46:25","slug":"selfies-parkinsons-disease-signs-2662762","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.futurity.org\/selfies-parkinsons-disease-signs-2662762\/","title":{"rendered":"Can selfie software predict if you’ll develop Parkinson’s?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Machine learning lets researchers accurately identify signs of Parkinson’s disease by analyzing facial muscles.<\/p>\n

Every day, millions of people take selfies with their smartphones or webcams to share online. And they almost invariably smile when they do so.<\/p>\n

“What if, with people’s permission, we could analyze those selfies and give them a referral in case they are showing early signs?”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Computer vision software\u2014based on algorithms that the researchers have developed\u2014can analyze the brief videos, including the short clips created while taking selfies, detecting subtle movements of facial muscles that are invisible to the naked eye.<\/p>\n

The software can then predict with remarkable accuracy whether a person who takes a selfie is likely to develop Parkinson’s disease\u2014as reliably as expensive, wearable digital biomarkers that monitor motor symptoms.<\/p>\n

The researchers’ describe the technology in Nature Digital Medicine<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Checking selfies for Parkinson’s disease risk<\/h3>\n

“Parkinson’s is the fastest growing neurological disorder<\/a>,” says Ehsan Hoque, an associate professor of computer science at the University of Rochester. “What if, with people’s permission, we could analyze those selfies and give them a referral in case they are showing early signs?”<\/p>\n

Smiles are not the only behaviors that Hoque and his lab can analyze for early symptoms<\/a> of Parkinson’s disease or related disorders.<\/p>\n

The researchers have developed a five-pronged test that neurologists could administer to patients sitting in front of their computer webcams hundreds of miles away.<\/p>\n

This could be transformative for patients who are quarantined, immobile, or living in underdeveloped areas where access to a neurologist is limited, Hoque says.<\/p>\n

In addition to making the biggest smile, and alternating it with a neutral expression three times, patients taking the test are also asked to:<\/p>\n