Alleviating Freezing of Gait Using Phase-dependent Tactile Biofeedback

Authors

Will Harrington, APDM Inc
Andrew Greenberg, APDM Inc
James McNames, Portland State UniversityFollow
Lars Holmstrom, APDM IncFollow

Published In

Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC), 2016 IEEE 38th Annual International Conference of the

Document Type

Citation

Publication Date

10-18-2016

Abstract

In this feasibility study, we present a novel, wearable prototype of tactile biofeedback to alleviate gait disturbances, such as freezing of gait in Parkinson's disease. We designed and tested a phase-dependent tactile biofeedback system that can be easily worn on the feet, with a simple switch to turn it on or off. Preliminary validation was performed in 8 subjects with Parkinson's disease who show freezing during a turning in place test. A metronome, control condition was used to compare effectiveness in alleviating freezing. Promising results were obtained, both in term of acceptability of the device, and improving motor performance.

Locate the Document

https://doi.org/10.1109/EMBC.2016.7592056

DOI

10.1109/EMBC.2016.7592056

Persistent Identifier

http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/20106

Citation Details

W. Harrington et al., "Alleviating freezing of gait using phase-dependent tactile biofeedback," 2016 38th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC), Orlando, FL, 2016, pp. 5841-5844.