Stepping Out

Just a picture of regular shoes
Not PD shoes

Thursday January 15, 2015

Margie Fishman

Delaware Online: The News Journal - Parkinson's robbed Ed Slygh of the ability to walk without fear.

Diagnosed in 2009, the Vietnam War veteran believes he developed the degenerative disorder of the nervous system after being exposed to Agent Orange during his military service. He now shuffles around with rounded shoulders.

Since testing a vibrating beach shoe developed at UD, the Lewes retiree is having an easier time navigating sharp turns and can take larger steps without freezing in place. While walking around the mall, he surprised himself by picking up his cane and twirling it.

"The most exciting thing for me is that it's not invasive," says Slygh, who admits that the shoe tickles a bit.

Nearly 1 million Americans live with Parkinson's disease. Actor Michael J. Fox's foundation has directed funding toward finding a cure. The foundation recently partnered with Intel Corp. on a device to help Parkinson's patients track symptoms.

Closer to home, UD researchers have spent the last few years developing a flexible, rubberized shoe to help individuals with Parkinson's walk steadier.

While a healthy person takes one step about every 1.15 seconds, individuals with Parkinson's can take 1.35 seconds per step. That might seem like a minuscule difference, but those longer steps slow down a person's gait.

Directing the UD research is Ingrid Pretzer-Aboff, an associate nursing professor at UD with 30 years of experience treating people with Parkinson's. Kyle Winfree, a postdoctoral researcher in biomechanics, built the shoe. Researchers selected a water shoe because it was inexpensive and came in standard sizes.

Operated by a microcomputer, the "shoe" is really a vibrating insole that can store data. It measures the duration of each step – when the heel strikes the ground and rolls forward onto the ball of the foot.

Participants from India and the U.S. tested the shoe twice a day at six-minute intervals for two weeks. They generally reported smoother walking, better balance and faster walking pace, Pretzer-Aboff says. These benefits were particularly pronounced for those who had advanced Parkinson's.

Those findings, gathered over three pilot studies, support earlier research by 19th-century French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot. Charcot found that people with poor motor control benefited from long train or carriage rides. He created a vibration chair as a form of treatment, but died before it could be tested.

So far, about 150 participants have tested the continuously vibrating shoe, called the PDShoe, and an earlier version that delivered step-synchronized vibrations.

Researchers are still trying to determine why the vibrations work so well. Is it because the muscle gets so excited from the vibration that it is more receptive to the signal from the brain telling it to move? Or does the vibration simply act as a tactile cue?

Whatever the mechanism, the shoe successfully bridges engineering and human health and boosts the self-esteem of the wearer, according to Pretzer-Aboff.

"Imagine if you got your feet back," she says.

http://www.delawareonline.com/story/life/2015/01/15/wearable-tech-supporting-limbs-easing-parkinsons/21826073/

https://nwpf.org/stay-informed/news/2015/01/stepping-out/