Rice University students have designed a vibrating glove in order to “train” misfiring neurons in the brain and alleviate PD symptoms. Their goal is to obtain Institutional Review Board approval and conduct clinical trials on this invention.
Parkinson’s disease is currently managed best through medication, deep brain stimulation surgery and physical or occupational therapy; however, its symptoms often resurface.
1. Reduces Tremors
Tremors in the hands are one of the hallmarks of Parkinson’s Disease (PD), often interfering with daily activities like writing, eating or shaving. Tremors are caused by involuntary firing of neurons in an area of the brain called the subthalamic nucleus; medication that targets this area of the brain may reduce them but not always effectively; surgery may offer another solution; this involves implanting an electrical stimulation device into your body which sends electrical pulses directly to your brain in order to change abnormal patterns that cause your tremors; this form of treatment is known as deep brain stimulation (DBS); however only select few are eligible and it can be costly.
Scientists are exploring noninvasive approaches to treating tremors without surgery or medication. A vibration glove which delivers 250 hertz pulses directly to fingers has shown promising results; this new technology, called coordinated reset stimulation, was pioneered by Stanford’s Peter Tass lab and may provide another potential treatment option for those whose tremors resist medications.
Research behind this glove is founded on an emerging theory known as sensory gating. This theory, with roots in neuroscience, describes how vibration therapy can interrupt erratic neural signals which lead to tremors. When vibrations are applied directly to a hand, vibration therapy helps soothe these nerve signals and lessen tremors associated with sudden movements or repetitive actions.
As opposed to earlier vibration devices that used soundwaves to address tremors, the new vibration glove utilizes tuned mass damper technology – an innovative system composed of magnetized discs worn around wrists that repel when your hand trembles – which are located inside a wrist sleeve worn on wrists and dissipate them whenever your hand trembles. Similar systems are currently being developed that will help reduce other types of tremors throughout the body.
Research for the glove is promising, yet larger clinical trials must take place to ascertain its effectiveness. At Peter Tass Lab we are currently in the preparatory stage for clinical trials that will involve increasing both participants and variables to gain more objective data regarding its impact on tremor, rigidity and bradykinesia.
2. Reduces Rigidity
Rigidity can be an ongoing struggle for those living with Parkinson’s disease, severely restricting mobility and leading to involuntary movements. Researchers have discovered a new treatment that significantly decreases these symptoms while improving movement control, helping patients move more freely while increasing quality of life.
This innovative therapy involves wearing gloves that emit vibrations to reset nerves that misfire due to Parkinson’s Disease and reduce motor symptoms. Scientists who developed these gloves have conducted several successful tests with volunteers with PD. Their results have been encouraging; one patient, Kanwar Bhutani, who experienced severe rigidity before trying the gloves reported that his symptoms decreased considerably after just four hours of wearing them.
Through several tests, the team determined that coordinated reset stimulation through fingertip pads could trigger responses in parts of the brain responsible for movement and thus alleviate PD symptoms. This technique resembled deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery which has proven helpful for reducing symptoms like tremor, stiffness, slowness, bradykinesia and involuntary movement in patients; however it requires more invasive procedure, battery changes and parameter adjustments than targeted fingertip pads stimulation.
Researchers are exploring drugs to target harmful proteins that accumulate in the brains of those suffering from Parkinson’s, an enormous challenge as there are no animal models which mimic its symptoms perfectly. Proclara Bioscience, however, has created an unusual hybrid molecule which binds directly with these proteins and prevents their accumulation in the body.
3. Reduces Bradykinesia
Parkinson’s can make movement challenging for those living with it, as the tremors and rigidity can create difficulty with movement. One device designed to alleviate these symptoms is called VILIM ball and has proven its efficacy at reducing tremors, bradykinesia, speed of tremor, balance issues and improve performance; researchers at University of California Irvine developed it.
The VILIM ball works by sending vibrations through small openings in its glove to deliver vibrations directly into the hand, alleviating nerve-triggered tremors through vibratory stimulation. Being lightweight and portable makes the device simple to use during daily activities while being safe and well tolerated by its users.
Previous studies have demonstrated how vibrations can retrain misfiring neurons in the brain – nerve cells which produce dopamine for movement control, mood regulation and thinking functions. Early work conducted by Stanford University scientists focused on an area of the brain known as substantia nigra that houses over 400,000 cells that produce dopamine and connect to areas that control movement, motor function and other important functions. Scientists discovered that wearing a glove that vibrated fingers at 100 to 300 times per second for two hours per day helped break up this overly-synchronized synchronicity – they called this process coordinated reset stimulation.
Scientists conducted trials with five individuals living with Parkinson’s, and discovered that coordinated reset finger tip vibration therapy led to immediate and cumulative improvements in quantitative measures of gait impairment and bradykinesia; these improvements persisted even four weeks after treatment was discontinued. They now intend to conduct further evaluation of this approach on three individuals for over six months.
There are other, more invasive approaches to treating Parkinson’s, such as surgically implanting electrodes into the subthalamic nucleus to help reduce inhibition in motor-related parts of the brain and relieve motor impairment. While this method has proven its worth in animal experiments, its side effects can be severe and require regular maintenance. An innovative new treatment option involves intrabs, specially created molecules designed to bind harmful proteins and thus decrease their accumulation in the brain – for instance a hybrid molecule created by Proclara Bioscience features two different kinds of protein and has also proven its worth in animal experiments.
4. Improves Balance
Researchers have recently made the breakthrough discovery that vibrating fingertips of patients can help reset misfiring neurons and enhance motor function, according to Stanford Medicine. The discovery was part of a study which followed patients wearing gloves equipped with vibrating fingers; researchers observed it helped their tremor, stiffness, balance problems and slowness even after they discontinued wearing the device for two hours each day.
Parkinson’s symptoms are partly the result of abnormal, over-synchronized firing patterns in brain circuits that control movement; this is thought to be partly influenced by decreased levels of dopamine, a chemical that helps nerve cells communicate and move correctly. Researchers found that using coordinated vibrations on fingertip for two hours twice daily helped break this synchronization and significantly improved symptoms while lasting longer than traditional deep brain stimulation treatments that implant a system into parts of the brain that control movement.
Dr. Peter Tass is working to adapt this technology for use during daily activities and larger studies with larger groups of people to determine its effect on tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia and balance in Parkinson disease patients.
As trials of the wristwatch proceed, other experts are exploring new approaches to making vibration therapy even more effective. For example, they’re testing whether adding more powerful vibration mechanisms could better aid PD patients, and whether different frequencies have different impacts on different parts of their bodies.
APDA welcomes this research into using vibration therapy to treat Parkinson’s, though these early results should only be seen as preliminary and more clinical studies must be completed before this treatment can become an option for doctors and their patients.
Kanwar Bhutani was among those to try the gloves. Once dependent upon walking aids or canes for mobility assistance, he now walks without assistance and even enjoys dancing again! In total, 20 participants in the first round of clinical trials experienced significant improvements with regards to tremors, speech, walking ability and balance.
