Development and Technical Validation of a Gait-Synchronised Vibratory Stimulation System for Patients with Parkinson’s Disease
摘要
Parkinson’s Disease is considered the second most common age-related neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimer’s Disease. One of its most disabling symptoms is Freezing of gait (FOG), which is a temporary, involuntary inability to step during initiation or turning while walking, typical in patients in a mid or advanced stage. The significant relationship between Parkinson’s FOG and gait characteristics motivates research on the influence of vibratory activation on proprioception during walking. The goal of this work is to present a vibratory system designed to provide gait-cycle-synchronised vibratory stimulation on lower limb muscles and reduce FOG occurrences. After technical validation, it is able to capture angular velocity data from both shanks and detect the main gait events to synchronize vibratory stimulation with the lower limbs muscles activation.