User Interface Design for Deep Brain Stimulation Implants in Parkinson’s Patients

Team Members: Hao Zhan, Jessica Thomeke, Keegan Yates, Hunter Bartosik, Joseph Bolsenga, and Timothy Bradt,

Computer Engineering

Advisor: Keat Ghee Ong, Biomedical Engineering

Sponsor: Medtronic

Project Overview:

Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients with deep brain

stimulation (DBS) implanted devices are typically

provided with a means of controlling their device. In

some cases, conventional touch screen interfaces

are unsuitable or difficult to use. This project

looked to determine what guidelines and features

are desirable for designing a user interface for the

DBS controller for PD patients. The general topic

is broad because there are no existing guidelines

to design user interfaces for this particular patient

population. Thus, three main ideas were chosen

to study through clinical trials including the size

of elements in the user interface, the comparison

between three control models, and general

preferences for using a user interface.

Done