W&M, VCU partnership using technology to treat Parkinson’s symptom enters next phase
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – It truly is a devastating ailment additional than a million People are battling and there’s no get rid of, but area scientists say they are operating on a way to make everyday living with Parkinson’s extra bearable.
For the very last calendar year and a half, scientists at William & Mary have been partnering with a workforce at Virginia Commonwealth University to create treatment method for a Parkinson’s symptom named Freezing of Gait a sudden, involuntary pause while walking that can direct to falls.
“It’s practically like a mild switch so you cannot shift your leg. You can really think ‘I want to go my foot’ and your foot is not going to shift when you are freezing since you can find a neurological crack,” claimed Ken Koltermann, a graduate exploration assistant at William & Mary, who’s working on the treatment.
Koltermann claims his late grandmother is his inspiration for joining the group, telling News 3 he watched her drop as she battled Parkinson’s.
Freezing of Gait is a typical Parkinson’s symptom that can from time to time reward, he suggests, from vibration treatment.
“When you implement the vibration, it truly is like, ‘Oh, ok, now I can perhaps shift my foot.'”
But the obstacle has been applying the remedy as a freezing episode transpires.
Koltermann and other experts under Gang Zhou, a Computer Science professor at William & Mary, have been building wearable sensors that can detect Freezing of Gait. The information is then transferred to a cellphone software.
The workforce at VCU is working on the vibration remedy reaction, with the hope that it can all eventually be housed in one transportable technologies.
So significantly, the partnership has gathered info from a handful of Parkinson’s patients at a clinic at VCU in Richmond.
On Monday, Koltermann claims it will begin its future phase: gathering details from 13 new people in 1 take a look at and making use of the vibration therapy in a second check out.
News 3 is told the 3rd section, likely two yrs down the road, will see the remedy examined in public at procuring malls.
The full study is expected to be four a long time extended and is funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Wellness.
“We want everyone to be in a position to gain,” explained Zhou. “No issue [if you’re in the] hospital, at household or even if you’re operating exterior, because our device is transportable.”
Zhou claims the investigate group is presently performing on a patent for its technological know-how. The hope is to discover a producer to mass generate the sensors with a final price to sufferers not exceeding $10.
Simply click In this article for more info about the partnership involving William & Mary and VCU.