**Author details**

Adriano O. Andrade\* , Adriano Alves Pereira, Maria Fernanda Soares de Almeida, Guilherme Lopes Cavalheiro and Ana Paula Souza Paixão *Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Federal University of Uberlândia, Brazil* 

Sheila Bernardino Fenelon *Faculty of Medicine, Federal University of Uberlândia, Brazil* 

Valdeci Carlos Dionisio *Faculty of Physical Education, Federal University of Uberlândia, Brazil* 

<sup>\*</sup> Corresponding Author

## **Acknowledgement**

18 Practical Applications in Biomedical Engineering

60].

direction of motion

**Author details** 

Adriano O. Andrade\*

Sheila Bernardino Fenelon

Valdeci Carlos Dionisio

Corresponding Author

 \*

imaging from tremulous patients with Parkinson's disease [60]. In general, the signals are recorded and stored for posterior analysis. The analysis involves methods such as the radius-angle transformations of the two-dimensional spiral pictures that are captured from the original clinical information (shape, kinematics and dynamics) [57; 58]. In addition, more sophisticated tools and modern statistical algorithms can be used for data evaluation [59;

Digitizing tablet was used by Almeida (2010) [5] with a technique known as spirography. This technique consists in the reproduction by the patient of the Archimedes' spiral according to an ideal model. Thus, a model of this spiral is displayed on the table surface

Several attributes of the spiral of Archimedes make its use attractive in tests for the detection of human tremor. First, it has a simple design and it is easily understood by subjects who can follow its trajectory. Secondly, the shape of the spiral is smooth with an increasing radius, reducing the occurrence of false-positive tremor caused by abrupt changes in the

There are a number of research studies concerning the employment of digitizing tablets for both the quantification of pathological tremor and the detection of movement disorders [49; 50; 51; 52; 53; 54; 55; 56; 61]. However, even with the advances in the technology of digitizing tablets, which allowed for more precision and accuracy in the measurement of movements, no study focusing upon the use of these devices, as a tool for investigating the relation between physiological tremor and ageing in kinetic conditions, was found in our literature survey. Although some authors, e.g., Wenzelburger *et al*.,[62] support the hypothesis that kinetic tremor is related to an enhancement of physiological tremor this assumption is not

The different ways of evaluating the tremor, clinical and biomechanics, can be viewed as complementary and in general are used simultaneously, with the aim of compare the qualitative and quantitative data. Thus, it is expected that future improvement of existing

, Adriano Alves Pereira, Maria Fernanda Soares de Almeida,

and the patient should try to cover the route of the model as accurately as possible.

consensual [26; 27; 63] and therefore additional studies in this area are required.

tools, as well as the introduction of new tools better clarify this point.

*Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Federal University of Uberlândia, Brazil* 

*Faculty of Physical Education, Federal University of Uberlândia, Brazil* 

Guilherme Lopes Cavalheiro and Ana Paula Souza Paixão

*Faculty of Medicine, Federal University of Uberlândia, Brazil* 

The authors would like to express their gratitude to "Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior" (CAPES - Brazil), "Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico" (CNPq – Brazil) and "Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais" (FAPEMIG – MG – Brazil) for the financial support.
