Smart ankle bracelet-laser device to improve gait and detect freezing of gait in Parkinsonism patients: a case series

Abstract

Freezing of gait (FOG) is one of the most disabling symptoms of Parkinsonism. Moreover, it does not respond well to medication. Visual cues have been shown to alleviate FOG in Parkinsonism; however, their efficacy is inconsistent. Currently, most mobile cueing devices are used as an open-loop cueing system, which requires manual control to enable constant visual cues. Thus, such devices may not be suitable for some people, especially those who have attention deficits. In addition, objective measurements of FOG in real-life situations remain challenging. Therefore, we developed a smart-ankle laser as a closed-loop cueing system that can detect the patient’s walking pattern and automatically project a laser line that follows each walking step, thus requires less attention. Real-time motion was also recorded within the device for FOG measurement. We studied the efficacy of the device in three Parkinsonism patients with FOG (one man and two women, aged 58–76 years) immediately after use and two patients at 1-week follow-up. Gait speed, Timed Up and Go test performance, stride length, and % FOG improved with the use of the laser, without adverse effects.