You can live with Parkinson's
Ana Luisa Trejos and her colleagues from the University of Western Ontario have developed a new prototype of a glove that suppresses tremors. In the future, it will be able to make life easier for more than 6 million people around the world.
One of the developers of the tremor suppressing glove: the device was created specifically for his left hand. The key elements of the device were printed on a 3D printer. Source: Western University.
The technology allows patients suffering from Parkinson's disease to improve the motor functions of their hands and weaken or completely stop involuntary movements – a clinical manifestation that affects more than a quarter of patients.
Previous studies by the same group of scientists have shown that the suppression of involuntary muscle contractions in the forearms and wrists leads to increased tremor of the fingers. This makes it even more difficult for patients to perform the usual procedures.
The fact is that in everyday life, it is the tremor of the fingers that causes the greatest difficulties in Parkinson's disease. The new personalized gloves work on a different principle from other similar devices. They do not suppress tremor at rest, but are activated when the patient wants to perform some action: gloves seem to anticipate the owner's intention and help to realize it, minimizing tremor during the action.
Gloves will be created specifically for the right and left hands of a particular patient. This will help you get the maximum benefits from using them. The development can significantly improve the quality of life of patients suffering from Parkinson's disease: they will now be able to independently perform such simple, at first glance, manipulations as buttoning or writing.
Article by Yue Zhou et al. Design and validation of a novel mechatronic transmission system for a wearable tremor suppression device is published in the journal Robotics and Autonomous Systems.
Aminat Adzhieva, portal "Eternal Youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of UWO Media Relations: New wearable tech from Western may hold big benefits for people with Parkinson’s.