| KEYWORD |
Area Engineering
Quantitative Evaluation of Dance Therapy for Parkinson’s Disease
keywords BALANCE AND POSTURE, BIOMECHANICS, MOTION ANALYSIS, SIGNAL PROCESSING
Reference persons DANIELA MAFFIODO, RAFFAELLA SESANA
External reference persons Maria Paterna, maria.paterna@polito.it
Research Groups 04-Automazione e Robotica
Thesis type EXPERIMENTAL
Description This thesis aims to quantitatively assess the effects of Dance Therapy on motor symptoms in patients suffering from Parkinson's disease. A study based on stereophogrammetric analysis on a group of patients is currently underway at the PolitoBioMed Lab of the Politecnico di Torino.
Starting from the study of the state of the art, an experimental protocol has been developed that involves the collection of fundamental motor parameters such as stride width and joint angles of the ankle, hip and knee, through specific motor exercises that include linear walks, 90° turns and the ascent of a step. These tests are conducted both before and after each Dance Therapy session, subsequently integrating subjective questionnaires aimed at detecting patients' perceptions of post-session changes. This methodology makes it possible to verify the correspondence between subjective perceptions and objective data of motor measurements.
After quantifying the immediate effects of the therapy, it will be necessary to assess which indicators can be identified to quantify possible long-term effects of the therapy.
Required skills Basic knowledge of biomechanics of the musculoskeletal system, motion analysis, biomedical instrumentation, signal processing, MATLAB-Simulink.
Deadline 04/11/2025
PROPONI LA TUA CANDIDATURA