Information Wellness Blog

Have you seen the fascinating video on TODAY of a glove that helped mitigate tremor, stiffness, slowness and abnormal walking associated with parkinsons disease in just one small trial? Using vibration therapy, this treatment reset brain activity.

Researchers at Rice University are taking this technology one step further by creating an advanced setup involving more than just gloves and shoe soles; their setup also features sensors which trigger vibration on the hand.

What are they?

When The Today Show featured Stanford Medicine researcher Peter Tass’ promising glove to ease Parkinson’s Disease symptoms through vibrating fingertips in 2022, it generated excitement and hope among people living with PD. These gloves deliver light vibrations to reset abnormal electrical activity in the brain and reduce symptoms like tremors, slowness of movement and stiffness.

But this device remains in early clinical trial testing and cannot be purchased yet. Future researchers plan to conduct a rigorously controlled study comparing active treatment against a “sham control”, or another glove that looks similar but doesn’t vibrate to alleviate PD symptoms – to see how well it works and ensure that any benefits found can be directly attributed to technology rather than due to placebo effects.

Rice University engineering students Emmie Casey and Tomi Kuye have taken steps to combine cutting-edge neuroscience with open source, accessible design to create DIY gloves that can be assembled at home for around $250. Working alongside a nonprofit to offer sliding scale pricing models, these two students have developed a website where people can preorder these gloves as well as donate toward supporting their efforts.

The gloves use similar technology as that found in vibrating shoe soles to treat orthostatic hypotension, which leads to fainting episodes. When someone steps down, sensors on their shoe sole send signals via Bluetooth to vibrating gloves that create vibrational stimulation; our team has modified it so it fits within a compact housing.

Sensors will also be added to track hand movements remotely so a doctor can evaluate a patient’s tremor patterns remotely, potentially eliminating in-person visits altogether. In the long run, their vision includes two flexible, wearable devices capable of helping address other mobility conditions; similar to what Virginia Commonwealth University researchers are working on with vibrating gadgets sitting on fingertips that help reduce tremors and increase grip strength.

How do they work?

Researchers conducted clinical trials and discovered that wearing the vibrating glove for two hours twice daily for four weeks reduced tremors, stiffness, abnormal walking and slow body movement associated with Parkinson’s. Furthermore, this effect persisted even after patients took off the gloves – unlike medications or deep brain stimulation which cause side effects and can even induce depression.

Rice University students Emmie Casey and Tomi Kuye used reverse engineering of Stanford’s design in order to make the glove more accessible; their prototype employs low-cost vibration motors commonly found on cell phones to deliver light stimulation directly to fingertips.

When users apply pressure to shoe soles or gloves, sensors crafted from miniscule carbon nanotubes detect any changes in pressure and send a signal to a series of flexible 3D-printed cylinders wrapped with copper wire that produce vibrations similar to cell phone ringtones – physically alerting wearers to pressure changes as well as activating their brain’s natural braking system, which dampens misfiring nerve cells.

While other devices to treat Parkinson’s Disease focus on stabilizing tremors with weights or rigid structures, the Rice team’s approach goes further, addressing the source of neurological disruption itself. By reestablishing feedback loops interrupted by mobility conditions and mobility conditions interruption, Maria Oden – Rice professor and senior engineering design faculty member. “If we restore this feedback loop then this could potentially improve a variety of symptoms” said Maria Oden.

Bhutani completed their pilot study wearing the glove for three months and saw his symptoms gradually diminishing. Now, they’re testing whether this improvement can last over time in a larger trial.

This will enable us to assess whether any benefits experienced due to active treatment are not attributable to an inflated placebo effect.

The research team hopes to expand this technology to other parts of the body, such as prosthetic legs. Their goal is to design an adaptive device tailored specifically for each person’s individual needs.

How do they work for me?

KRQE’s New Mexico Frontiers TV program recently highlighted Northern engineering students Emmie Casey and Tomi Kuye of Northern’s Peter Tass lab’s research that suggests random vibration delivered to fingertips can “reset” misfiring neurons in the brain to decrease symptoms associated with Parkinson’s such as tremors, rigidity, slowness of movement, freezing gait etc.

The team’s objective is to design an affordable and easy-to-use glove for people living with this condition around the world. After creating 10 prototypes, their next step will be seeking approval from NNMC’s Institutional Review Board before deploying their device in communities worldwide. They are also seeking grant funding in order to further miniaturize and add wi-fi capabilities into their device.

In their initial clinical trial with a patient, researchers demonstrated how using a vibrating glove could significantly enhance a person’s ability to move, even at rest. Electroencephalograms (EEGs), brain scans that measure individual neurons activity levels before and after three months of glove therapy have shown dramatic results; for example a woman diagnosed with Parkinson’s could no longer walk until after wearing this vibrating glove regularly for six months she could lift both feet off the ground without assistance or support!

Students were also dedicated to making this technology as accessible as possible, publishing open-source instructions on how to assemble one at home. A nonprofit was also formed and sliding-scale pricing was used so cost will never become an obstacle in accessing treatment.

Although these gloves have shown promise in alleviating Parkinson’s symptoms, more intensive testing will be required to demonstrate that they provide real therapeutic advantages. To do this, more trials and controls must be established – including volunteer wearers wearing both active treatment gloves as well as ones designed to look and feel identical but without vibrating as designed to ease symptoms.

How do they work for you?

Northern New Mexico College and Espanola Valley High School’s MESA (Math, Engineering, Science Achievement) programs have come together on an exciting engineering project designed to significantly improve lives of people living with Parkinson’s disease. Under Professor Steve Cox and NNMC Associate Dean for STEM Initiatives as well as teachers Janice Badongen Patal-e and Lyne Salero’s guidance, students in these two high school engineering programs are creating gloves that offer vibration therapy therapy to alleviate symptoms associated with the disorder.

The gloves are inspired by research conducted at Stanford University’s Peter Tass lab, where researchers explored how random vibratory stimulation delivered through fingertips may help rewire misfiring neurons that characterize Parkinson’s Disease (PD). Rice students are working toward creating an affordable yet user-friendly device based on this concept.

Early anecdotal feedback has been promising. One person with early-onset Parkinson’s reported that after wearing the gloves for two hours twice a day for eight weeks, her tremors subsided so much that she was able to walk without using a cane walker – something which Casey believes represents significant progress; “people with Parkinson’s can become quite frustrated when their abilities diminish over time. That is a big accomplishment and shows great promise for future research efforts.

Students designed the gloves so they could be easily customized for every user, fitting comfortably either sitting or standing. They are currently seeking Institutional Review Board approval so they can test with a select group of users at Texas Medical Center, while making the gloves available online through their nonprofit using a sliding scale price model to ensure cost is never an obstacle for anyone wanting to try them.

Other research teams are creating devices incorporating vibration to alleviate Parkinson’s symptoms. Socks and shoe inserts with vibration features may help combat freezing of gait that is often seen with this condition, while vibrating shoeboxes that reduce tremors while improving walking are currently under development.

Although there is no cure for Parkinson’s, several treatments can improve quality of life for those living with it. If you have PD, contact your physician and inquire about upcoming clinical trials that could provide relief from symptoms.