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A way to remotely diagnose diseases has been invented
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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Medical workers will soon be able to diagnose major diseases using a special wall-mounted radar.
Specialists – employees of the Laboratory of Information Technology and Artificial Intelligence at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology – have come up with a device capable of remotely recording any changes in human gait. The scientists will present a detailed scientific report on the study at the CHI 2017 symposium.
Changes in a person's gait can be used to draw conclusions about certain health problems, since such changes are typical for many diseases. For example, patients with Parkinson's disease have shortened steps. But for such diagnostics, it is necessary to track the patient's gait for a certain period of time, which was previously quite difficult to do. In theory, this task could be accomplished using special fitness recorders. However, in reality, specialists have encountered the fact that such devices do not accurately assess a person's steps, and are also completely unsuitable for monitoring pulse load.
The innovative device, developed by scientists from Massachusetts, was called WiGait. It is a low-power radar, which is suitable for use in closed spaces. The radar is attached to the wall: from here it makes all measurements and calculations, without connecting additional antennas and beacons. By assessing the type of reflective and emitted waves, the wall device records the patient's movement around the room, simultaneously collecting information on the step length, the number of steps, and the actual speed of movement. At the same time, any auxiliary and "extra" information about motor activity is ignored by the device.
The specialists recorded the movement data from eighteen volunteers. As a result, it was found that the radar device determined the step length and speed of leg movement with minimal error: the accuracy of the data obtained varied from 85% to 99.8%.
The researchers noted that the use of a radar device has an additional advantage - confidentiality of information. Other methods of obtaining data - for example, evaluating video information from surveillance cameras - cannot always guarantee the absolute safety of personal data. That is, almost any potential fraudster can theoretically open access, and not only to information about a person's motor activity, but also to personal identification.
The gait-monitoring radar device is not the first case of using radio transmitting devices designed to record all sorts of human body parameters. More and more often, specialists conduct such experiments using Wi-Fi distributors. For example, there are already results of studies on the recording of human emotions, as well as on the assessment of heart rate and respiratory movements.