Fingers with toes, portable and vibrant technology could help Parkinson patients

Vibrant gadgets the size of a nail, similar to the tiny devices that buzz your mobile phone, could help people with Parkinson’s disease to navigate the world with more confidence and ease. Vibrant devices, which can also help people with other mobility conditions, form the backbone of new flexible and portable technologies developed by researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Technology, describe In Biocapper and bioelectronicsIncludes a glove and a 3D printed shoe sole designed for people with Parkinson, as well as an adaptation for users of prosthetic legs. Coupled with pressure sensors and associated with Bluetooth wireless connection, vibrant devices could help approach “freezing the process”, which is one of the characteristics of Parkinson.

“There is this feedback loop between the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system”, which includes all nerves outside the brain and spinal cord, said Phillip Glass, the first author of the study and a doctorate . Candidate for the Physics Department of the College of Human Sciences and Sciences. “The brain constantly speaks to the peripheral nervous system, including sensors with your fingertips and feet.”

But the parkinson damages the link between the brain and the peripheral nervous system, disturbing this feedback loop. One of the consequences of this disturbance is that almost 60% of people with experience in Parkinson’s approach, suddenly finding themselves incapable of lifting their feet to walk.

Glass and his colleagues from the Physical Department as well as the VCU nursing school develop a portable and vibrant technology to restore this feedback loop. The new technology could help Parkinson patients, as well as people with other deficiencies in the peripheral nervous system, improve their approach, their balance and their motor skills.

Make life easier to patients

Previous research by Ingrid Pretzer-Aboff, PH.D., one of the co-authors of the new study and professor at the nursing school, focused on how vibrations can help patients from patients Parkinson to find engine control, although the exact neurological mechanism of the effect is unknown.

“I work with patients to make their lives easier,” she said. “And in this case, walk more easily.”

While Pretzer-Aboff has Previously worked With external partners to create portable and vibrant prototypes for Parkinson patients, the objective of the last project is to develop more flexible and comfortable products thanks to 3D printing and to use many small vibration devices instead one or two large models available commercially.

“The patients estimated that the former vibrators were voluminous, heavy and non -comfortable,” said Daeha Joung, Ph.D., assistant professor of physics and the main study of the study. “Patients want to have something subtle, flexible and small.”

Each portable device works via a simple feedback. When users take a step or enter an object, they apply pressure on 3D printed sensors in lower case of carbon nanotubes on their sole or shoe glove. Those pressure sensors Then send an electrical signal to the nearby vibration devices called Solenoids, which are made of flexible cylinders printed in 3D wrapped in copper wire.

THE electrical signalPulling through the copper wire, causes a magnet in the solenoid to vibrate about the same intensity as a mobile phone. These vibrating cylinders, focused on a different part of the body, alert the user for the increase in pressure.

The configuration varies for each portable device. When users take a step on the sole of the shoe, they apply pressure on the sensors at the bottom of the sole, which relays a vibration on the top of the foot. When glove users enter an object, they trigger vibrations on a glove carried on the other hand via a Bluetooth signal.

Although these vibrations physically write the carriers of pressure, they can also have a deeper neurosensory impact.

“It could be that if it vibrates, the patient knows:” Okay, I find it difficult to walk, then I will take a big step, slow down or turn a different direction “,” said Pretzer-Aboff. “If it has a neurostimulation effect, it may really act the skin receptors and go to the brain, then alert the patient with what they do.”

An adaptable and versatile solution

Although the sole and the shoe glove have been designed for Parkinson patients, people who wear prostheses can also benefit from it. For example, the Glass and Joung prototype Prototype Protestics leg and Joung can help patients feel balanced or pressure problems before becoming dangerous and lead to a fall, sending a signal directly to the vibration devices on the upper leg user.

The rechargeable and battery -powered configuration is also sensitive to pressure and adjustable. More pressure on the sensors creates a stronger vibration, and the amplitude and the frequency of the vibration can be personalized for each user or application.

The same technology could be adapted to users with other types of dysfunction of the peripheral nervous system – and for wider areas, said Brent Fagg, deputy director of innovation at VCU Techtransfer and Ventures, which helps to market inventions university.

“The design and functionality of the solenoid system make it versatile for many applications,” said Fagg. “For example, in professional sports training equipment, this could provide real -time comments, allowing athletes to adjust their performance on site.”

The researchers work with Techtransfers and Ventures to obtain a patent for their work, and they plan to go beyond prototypes in portable and marketable products. For the moment, they hope to work with Parkinson’s patients from VCU Health.

“We tried to understand what was the problem, and we tried to solve the problem,” said Joung. “How can we, as scientists or engineers, help help patients?”