It consists of a soft magnetoelastic tip and ferrofluidic ink, capable of sensitively and quantitatively converting writing movements, both on the surface and in the air, into high-fidelity, analyzable signals for diagnosis.

According to the research results, published in the journal Nature Chemical Engineering, a pilot study in humans was conducted to validate the pen’s clinical potential, including both Parkinson’s patients and healthy participants.

The diagnostic device accurately recorded handwriting signals, and a one-dimensional analysis assisted by convolutional neural networks successfully distinguished PD patients with an average accuracy of 96.22 percent.

According to the researchers, this represents a low-cost, widely disseminated, and reliable technology with the potential to improve the diagnosis of this neurodegenerative disease in large populations and resource-limited areas.

The main symptoms of PD are motor symptoms, particularly rigidity, tremor, decreased movement, or complete inability to perform movements, among others.

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