Patients With Parkinson May Fall Less With These Smart Garments

Researchers have developed a new kind of technology integrated into smart garments to limit the number of falls in patients with Parkinson’s disease.

As one of the neurodegenerative diseases, Parkinson makes patients much more difficult to keep balance as well as easier to fall compared to other people. Reasons for these falls hail from postural instability and gait impairments.

The researchers at Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA for short) collaborated with those at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) to establish a neuro-rehabilitation programme called StandingTall-PD. With it, the researchers hope to reduce falls and freezing of gait and improve the independence of patients.

StandingTall-PD leverages sensory cues from haptic, audio, and visual sources to rearrange the brain’s parts; and therefore, Parkinson’s patients can control their movement and limit their falls.

To improve their walking ability, the researchers combined audio, sensory and visual elements to create new kinds of connections inside the brain’s parts which are less affected.

According to this Associate Director, the programme has shown its potentials to tackle the issues relating to balance and gait, as well as enhance the total life quality inpatients suffering from Parkinson.

Associate Professor Kim Delbaere and Dr. Matthew Brodie as two leaders of the study.

Participants of the study will get an iPad, phone, a pair of Smart Socks made by Sensoria brand, and a mat which sports color-coded stepping targets.

To access this programme, the participants can open the app installed on their smartphones to know how to monitor and self-manage their progress. Besides, they can activate stimuli to support their daily activities, including the vibration mode of Smart Socks, when they feel a shuffling walk or freezing of gait or almost fall.

One more notable thing, the app enables clinicians to control the progress of all participants remotely and offer care suitable for individuals.