Objective measurement of muscle rigidity in parkinsonian patients treated with subthalamic stimulation

Parkinson's disease (PD) is clinically characterized by tremor, hypokinesia and rigidity. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) has been shown to be an effective treatment for Parkinson's disease (PD). For the intra-operative positioning of DBS electrodes and postoperative adjustment of stimulation parameters continuous precise clinical evaluation is necessary. These procedures could be facilitated by objectification of the clinical symptoms of the patient. This would also help to evaluate changes in symptoms over time and might contribute to the diagnosis of PD. Several approaches to obj…