Meet the robot crutch for Parkinson’s

A team of researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering (SEAS) and the Boston University Sargent College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences (both MA, USA) have designed a flexible, wearable robot that could transform the lives of individuals affected by Parkinson’s by enabling them to walk without freezing.

Parkinson’s is a progressive neurological condition that affects over 9 million people worldwide. There are over 40 symptoms, but Parkinson’s impacts every individual differently. Some of the most common symptoms include stiffness, slow movement, mental health problems and tremor. One of the most debilitating symptoms is freezing during walking, which is a major contributor to falls.

Traditional treatments for freezing, including surgical, pharmacological, and behavioral therapies, have proven ineffective. However, this new robotic garment has proven to be extremely promising in treating freezing. Worn around the hips and thighs, the robotic device gently pushes the hips during leg swings, resulting in a longer stride and elimination of freezing. The device’s immediate success was observed in a participant who, with the garment, walked faster and further indoors, completely free from freezing.

Published in Nature Medicine, the research not only showcases the potential of soft robotics to address Parkinson’s symptoms but also hints at the restoration of independence for those living with the disease.

The collaboration between engineers, biomechanists, apparel designers, physical therapists and rehabilitation scientists was crucial in developing this innovative solution. The team worked closely with a 73-year-old Parkinson’s patient over a period of 6 months, who, even after undergoing surgical and pharmacological therapies, experienced debilitating freezing episodes over 10 times a day, resulting in frequent falls and reliance on a scooter for outdoor mobility.

The wearable device, employing cable-driven actuators (devices generating motion by converting energy into mechanical force) and sensors around the waist and thighs, utilizes algorithms to approximate gait phases and produce assistive forces in sync with muscle movement.

The participant experienced an immediate, positive impact, walking indoors without freezing and outdoors with only occasional freezing episodes. Interestingly, he could also talk without freezing, which was uncommon without the device. This means that the device not only enhances mobility but could potentially deepen our knowledge of currently poorly understood gait freezing mechanisms.

“Because we don’t really understand freezing, we don’t really know why this approach works so well,” explained Terry Ellis, Director of the Center for Neurorehabilitation at Boston University. “But this work suggests the potential benefits of a ’bottom-up’ rather than ’top-down’ solution to treating gait freezing. We see that restoring almost-normal biomechanics alters the peripheral dynamics of gait and may influence the central processing of gait control.”

The device has enormous potential to improve overall quality of life, offering hope for a transformative solution in Parkinson’s management.