New Diagnostic Tool for Parkinson’s Disease “TOM”

Prof. Dr. Lars Timmermann and Prof. Dr. Frank Bremmer have been collaborating with Thomas RECORDING GmbH to develop a new neuromedical diagnostic system (“TOM”) for the early individualized detection of Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's disease causes subtle but characteristic changes in the eye movements of patients. These changes can be induced by certain stimuli (e.g. video clips) and detected by specialized intelligent algorithms, sometimes even in the early stages of the disease without any other visible symptoms. The research team is working ontransferring this diagnostic tool to a tablet with specialized software (TOM - mobile)to make the diagnosis much more easier and flexible. For the sensitive and differential diagnosis, the team is using a different, much more powerful system (TOM - stationary), which can detect even the smallest differences in eye movements.

In the future, the devices will be able to analyze measurements by the means of artificial intelligence in the cloud and provide the graphical representation to the attending physician within a short time. The system should then be able to provide the correct, individualised method of therapy and quickly select the appropriate medication and dosage at a much earlier stage. This would reduce or even eliminate the side effects of unnecessary therapy and the costs of incorrect treatment. The system is introduced in this video (German only!).

Prof. Dr. Lars Timmermann is Director of the Department of Neurology at the University of Marburg and member of the CMBB (more information here).

Prof. Dr. Frank Bremmer is head of the Department of Neurophysics at the University of Marburg, a member of the CMBB, and PI and speaker of The Adaptive Mind (more information here).