Doctors at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital in Thailand have developed lightweight and easy-to-use Parkinson’s gloves that can automatically reduce tremors in Parkinson’s Disease (PD) patients. Tremors, slowness, and stiffness are noticeable symptoms of PD, especially hand tremors while resting, which are found in 70% of patients. These uncontrollable tremors make patients appear disabled and unable to enjoy their daily routines, leading to a lower self-esteem and a fear of socializing.
The current method of treating PD is taking a cocktail of medications, which mostly cannot reduce all the tremors. Some patients whose tremors are especially strong may need brain surgery, which is an undesirable option due to its high cost and many side effects. A team of researchers at the Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, has researched and developed the prototype of “tremor-reducing Parkinson’s gloves” since 2014. The team has now succeeded in developing the “5th generation tremor-reducing Parkinson’s gloves” that are lightweight, easy to wear, effective, and cheaper than similar imported devices.
The Parkinson’s gloves are the first medical device that can help reduce tremors in the hands of PD patients through automatic electric stimulation of the hand muscles. There are over 10 million PD patients worldwide, and approximately 150,000 patients in Thailand. As the world population ages, the number of PD patients will only increase, affecting the socioeconomic status and treatment methods in public health systems.
The Parkinson’s gloves work by detecting and measuring Parkinson’s tremors using an accelerometer and a gyroscope, which are highly accurate and low in error risk. Parkinson’s tremors measure at 4-7 Hz. The gloves suppress tremors with electrical stimulation of the hand muscles. When the sensors detect Parkinson’s-specific tremors, they will transmit a signal via Bluetooth to the muscle stimulator to release an electric current that will reduce the tremors from a small battery. The muscle stimulator uses physiotherapy standard resistance, frequency, and electric current, which are safe for use with patients.
