Shoes that beep when someone walks with a strong stride improve stability in people with Parkinson’s disease, a small study has shown.
The condition occurs due to a loss of nerve cells in part of the brain called the substantia nigra. This leads to a reduction in a chemical called dopamine, which helps regulate movement. As a result, Parkinson’s symptoms commonly include tremors, slow walking and balance problems, which can lead to falls.
In an effort to overcome this, researchers at Physio Biometrics in Montréal, Canada, have created a sensor, called Heel2Toe, that clips onto the inside of shoes. When a user walks with a strong gait – a heel-to-toe motion, rolling onto the ball of the foot – it sends a signal via Bluetooth to a smartphone, which produces a beeping sound.
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To test the sensor, – who works at Physio Biometrics and McGill University in Montréal – and her colleagues followed 21 people with Parkinson’s who had gait issues but could walk without a stick.
All of the participants had five sessions with a physiotherapist and were given a workbook with tips for stable walking. Fourteen of them were also given the Heel2Toe sensor, which they were told to wear while walking for at least 5 minutes, twice a day.
Three months later, 13 of the 14 participants who wore the sensor travelled further in a 6-minute walking test, compared with their distance at the start of the study. There was no improvement among any of the participants who just had the physiotherapy sessions and the workbook.
Forty per cent of those who used the sensor said they were satisfied with the walking improvements they made.
“The brain loves getting rewards and this device provides a congratulatory beep every time you make a good step,” says Mayo. “Once you get used to it, you anticipate the beep, which makes you strive harder.”
The researchers didn’t test whether the sensor changes dopamine levels in the brain, but Mayo expects it might stimulate “a dopamine-driven reward and feedback loop” that somewhat compensates for the reduction in the chemical among people with Parkinson’s.
With further research, the team hopes the sensor could also be used by older people who may not have Parkinson’s disease, but have an unsteady gait that raises their risk of falls and injury.
medRxiv
