Around a million Americans are today living with Parkinson’s disease and some five million with Alzheimer’s. While teams of experts continue to search for cures for the debilitating brain conditions, others have been looking at ways to detect the diseases sooner.

Researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have been working in this area for some time and may have found an answer thanks to existing technology in the form of a digital pen. MIT researchers think a digital pen with tracking software could help improve detection. The digital pen suggested could solve a number of issues with the drawing test method. With software that tracks and monitors the pen’s output, it would be easier to detect irregularities. Doctors could see if a drawing is similar to what was drawn in the past, or if there really is a distortion to be concerned about.

Using an Anoto Live Pen - a camera-equipped digital device capable of measuring its position on the paper more than 80 times a second - researchers were able to compile much more data (and more accurate data) than via the traditional drawing test, with movements and hesitations detected as the subject goes about drawing the different clocks.

Software has been developed to provide rapid analysis of the collected data, giving the doctor an increased chance of making a more objective and early diagnosis. The exciting news is that when comparing the digital pen test with the existing method, the digital process was significantly more accurate, MIT reported on its website.

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