IBM Researchers in Haifa have developed an app for smartphones or smartwatches that can help detect attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms by analyzing the person’s movements.

By Sagi Cohen

Israeli researchers have developed a prototype of an app that can detect attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms by monitoring and analyzing hand movements.

Users could self-diagnose ADHD using a smartphone, a smartwatch or an activity band.

IBM in Israel – Photo: Suzy Peres

According to researchers at the at IBM Research Center in Haifa, people with ADHD have motor characteristics which separate them from the rest of the population.

Thus, the subject is asked to draw an imaginary rectangle on the wall 10 times, while motion sensors in the smartphone, smartwatch, or activity band, monitor his movements.

The data collected is analyzed by computer software, allowing to identify those people who have difficulty maintaining continuous motor activity. 

“Such a solution should help people who suspect they have ADHD by providing them an early indication that would enable them to decide whether they need a medical diagnosis. The idea was to develop a low-cost tool that measures fast, which anyone can use to test himself,” the research lab explained.

The development won first place in BITE, the Technion’s hackathon, a software and development contest. Researchers believe that the development can help identify various types of attention and deficit disorders, and possibly even test other disorders and diseases that affect motor characteristics, such as Parkinson’s disease.

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