Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed an artificial intelligence system that can diagnose Parkinson’s disease and its severity by examining a patient’s nightly breathing patterns.
The system, developed by a team at MIT's Jameel Clinic headed by Syrian-born digital health expert Prof Dina Katabi, can detect Parkinson’s earlier than ever before.
Prof Katabi told The National that early detection is vital for managing symptoms of the disorder and reducing patient suffering through the worst of them.
“We mostly diagnose Parkinson’s today through the motor symptoms that it is known for, tremors, stiffness etc,” she said.
“The problem is that the onset of the disease is five to 10 years before these symptoms show, so by the time they manifest it’s too late to do any more than just manage the symptoms.”
Parkinson’s is caused by the death of cells in the substantia nigra, a small region of the midbrain that is responsible for dopamine production, an essential neurochemical for a wide range of functions, including movement and cognitive ability.
Prof Katabi said early-stage diagnostic data for the illness has so far been very limited as it was often expensive and invasive to acquire.
In the absence of more data about its early phase, treatments have been unable to do more than just remove the worst of the motor symptoms for a few hours.
“There is really only one drug that we have for treating PD, however, it is merely symptomatic and does little to stop the actual disease from progressing and patients’ condition just gets worse with time,” said Prof Katabi.
In 1819, English surgeon James Parkinson became the first medical professional to conclusively diagnose the disorder in “An Essay on the Shaking Palsy”.
Prof Katabi found observations in these writings that the breathing of patients changed when they developed Parkinson's, which inspired her team to look further into the matter.
She said there have also been more recent medical studies on PD that proved that respiratory symptoms were evident years before motor symptoms.
To measure patients’ nocturnal breathing patterns, Prof Katabi’s team used a contactless device she had developed nine years previously to monitor the condition of patients with various other illnesses.
The device, called Emerald, emits radio signals around the patient and measures how they reflect off their bodies, allowing it to record important metrics such as heart rate, breathing patterns and whether the patient is sleeping.
The Force meets Superman's X-ray vision
“We discovered that radio waves were kind of like The Force in Star Wars — they are always around unseen. And because we are made up mostly of water, our bodies and their functions are able to affect the way radio waves move around us in measurable ways,” Dr Katabi told The National, as she pointed to a device the size of a Wi-Fi router mounted on her wall.
“Once we understood it that way, it was something akin to Superman’s X-ray vision, we could use the tech to monitor people’s sleeping patterns, their heartbeats. We could basically see people and measure their movements through walls.”
The device feeds all the information it collects into a neural network developed by Ms Katabi’s team, which analyses the data and informs the team whether a patient has Parkinson's and, if so, how advanced it is.
The AI model was trained through the input of data from 11,964 nights, with more than 120,000 hours of nocturnal breathing signals from 757 Parkinson's subjects and 6,914 control subjects.
Ms Katabi said that while the machine knows what to look for in someone’s breathing data to accurately diagnose Parkinson’s, it lacks the ability to inform her team what that key metric is.
“Even if you have the best Parkinson’s expert in the world, you can’t just give them a breathing signal and ask whether this person has Parkinson’s or not,” she said.
“They would not have an answer. The machine can see patterns that are very difficult for us humans to see, because they are sporadic or minute, or because they are a small part of a complex mechanism that we don’t understand yet.”
The fact that the device is contactless and non-invasive will expedite clinical trials for PD treatments significantly.
It allows doctors to monitor patients in a natural state and not while they are hooked up to cumbersome brainwave-measuring machines.
In June, the World Health Organisation said Parkinson’s was the fastest-growing neurological disease, with a prevalence that has doubled in the past 25 years.
Parkinson's affects about 10 million people worldwide and is the second most common neurological disease after Alzheimer’s.
McIlroy's struggles in 2016/17
European Tour: 6 events, 16 rounds, 5 cuts, 0 wins, 3 top-10s, 4 top-25s, 72,5567 points, ranked 16th
PGA Tour: 8 events, 26 rounds, 6 cuts, 0 wins, 4 top-10s, 5 top-25s, 526 points, ranked 71st
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Volunteers offer workers a lifeline
Community volunteers have swung into action delivering food packages and toiletries to the men.
When provisions are distributed, the men line up in long queues for packets of rice, flour, sugar, salt, pulses, milk, biscuits, shaving kits, soap and telecom cards.
Volunteers from St Mary’s Catholic Church said some workers came to the church to pray for their families and ask for assistance.
Boxes packed with essential food items were distributed to workers in the Dubai Investments Park and Ras Al Khaimah camps last week. Workers at the Sonapur camp asked for Dh1,600 towards their gas bill.
“Especially in this year of tolerance we consider ourselves privileged to be able to lend a helping hand to our needy brothers in the Actco camp," Father Lennie Connully, parish priest of St Mary’s.
Workers spoke of their helplessness, seeing children’s marriages cancelled because of lack of money going home. Others told of their misery of being unable to return home when a parent died.
“More than daily food, they are worried about not sending money home for their family,” said Kusum Dutta, a volunteer who works with the Indian consulate.
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
COPA DEL REY
Semi-final, first leg
Barcelona 1 (Malcom 57')
Real Madrid (Vazquez 6')
Second leg, February 27
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
The%20specs%3A%202024%20Mercedes%20E200
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Marathon results
Men:
1. Titus Ekiru(KEN) 2:06:13
2. Alphonce Simbu(TAN) 2:07:50
3. Reuben Kipyego(KEN) 2:08:25
4. Abel Kirui(KEN) 2:08:46
5. Felix Kemutai(KEN) 2:10:48
Women:
1. Judith Korir(KEN) 2:22:30
2. Eunice Chumba(BHR) 2:26:01
3. Immaculate Chemutai(UGA) 2:28:30
4. Abebech Bekele(ETH) 2:29:43
5. Aleksandra Morozova(RUS) 2:33:01
Bareilly Ki Barfi
Directed by: Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Starring: Kriti Sanon, Ayushmann Khurrana, Rajkummar Rao
Three and a half stars
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
Coming 2 America
Directed by: Craig Brewer
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Jermaine Fowler, Leslie Jones
3/5 stars
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
DIVINE%20INTERVENTOIN
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BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Friday (UAE kick-off times)
Borussia Dortmund v Paderborn (11.30pm)
Saturday
Bayer Leverkusen v SC Freiburg (6.30pm)
Werder Bremen v Schalke (6.30pm)
Union Berlin v Borussia Monchengladbach (6.30pm)
Eintracht Frankfurt v Wolfsburg (6.30pm)
Fortuna Dusseldof v Bayern Munich (6.30pm)
RB Leipzig v Cologne (9.30pm)
Sunday
Augsburg v Hertha Berlin (6.30pm)
Hoffenheim v Mainz (9pm)
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
What is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is the most popular virtual currency in the world. It was created in 2009 as a new way of paying for things that would not be subject to central banks that are capable of devaluing currency. A Bitcoin itself is essentially a line of computer code. It's signed digitally when it goes from one owner to another. There are sustainability concerns around the cryptocurrency, which stem from the process of "mining" that is central to its existence.
The "miners" use computers to make complex calculations that verify transactions in Bitcoin. This uses a tremendous amount of energy via computers and server farms all over the world, which has given rise to concerns about the amount of fossil fuel-dependent electricity used to power the computers.
THE DETAILS
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Director: Ron Howard
2/5
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo
Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic
Power: 242bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Price: Dh136,814
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Fifa Club World Cup quarter-final
Esperance de Tunis 0
Al Ain 3 (Ahmed 02’, El Shahat 17’, Al Ahbabi 60’)
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
