Robotic Apparel to Prevent Freezing of Gait in Parkinson Disease

Summary

Freezing-of-gait (FoG) in Parkinson Disease (PD) is one of the most vivid and disturbing gait phenomena in neurology. Often described by patients as a feeling of "feet getting glued to the floor," FoG is formally defined as a "brief, episodic absence or marked reduction of forward progression of the feet despite the intention to walk." This debilitating gait phenomena is very common in PD, occurring in up to 80% of individuals with severe PD. When FoG arrests walking, serious consequences can occur such as loss of balance, falls, injurious events, consequent fear of falling, and increased hospitalization. Wearable robots are capable of augmenting spatiotemporal gait mechanics and are emerging as viable solutions for locomotor assistance in various neurological populations. For the proposed study, our goal is to understand how low force mechanical assistance from soft robotic apparel can best mitigate gait decline preceding a freezing episode and subsequent onset of FoG by improving spatial (e.g. stride length) and temporal features (e.g. stride time variability) of walking. We hypothesize that the ongoing gait-preserving effects can essentially minimize the accumulation of motor errors that lead to FoG. Importantly, the autonomous assistance provided by the wearable robot circumvents the need for cognitive or attentional resources, thereby minimizing risks for overloading the cognitive systems -- a known trigger for FoG, thus enhancing the repeatability and robustness of FoG-preventing effects.

Conditions

• Parkinson Disease (PD)

Interventions

DEVICE

Robotic Apparel

A robotic apparel system is a portable, lightweight textile-based wearable robot that is worn around the waist and thighs. The apparel provides assistive flexion moment about the hip joint during the swing phase of gait by spooling in a cable that connects the thigh wraps to the front of the waist belt. Inertial measurement units embedded in the thigh wraps are used to control the timing of the robotic apparel assistance. Robotic apparel assistance magnitude is delivered as a small percentage of the bodyweight of the wearer.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson Research

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Boston University

  collaborator OTHER

• Harvard Medical School (HMS and HSDM)

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Terry Ellis, PT, PhD · Boston University

• Conor J Walsh, PhD · Harvard University

Study Design

Allocation

NA

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

90 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2024-09-03

Primary Completion

2027-09-30

Completion

2027-09-30

Countries

• United States

Study Locations