Objective:

To assess the efficacy of the ankle bracelet-laser in improving gait parameters and functional performance in Parkinson patients with freezing of gait (FOG)

Background:

FOG is one of the most common debilitating symptoms in PD, leading to a high risk of falling. Visual cue has been proven to reduce FOG; however, fixed visual cue, e.g. transverse line on the floor, has limited practical daily use. Therefore, we developed the ankle bracelet-laser as a portable and lightweight device, easy to apply by using the closed-loop system to provide laser cue automatically adjusted to the individual walking step.

Method:

Ten PD patients mean age 69 years old, Hoehn &Yahr 2-4 with FOG, were enrolled in a randomized cross-over study to reduce confounding factors among the participants into two groups; walk with and without the device. Gait speed, the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test and stride length were evaluated twice with a wash-out period for 10 minutes before changing to another group. Each participant received a few minutes to get used to the device and adjust the laser cue distance at their preference.

Results:

 Ankle bracelet-laser showed significant improvement in all parameters; gait speed, stride length and TUG test (p<0.05) compared with a walk without cueing. There was a clinically significant change in the TUG test with the mean difference (95% CI) at 4.27(1.48,16.77); p<0.01. PD patients in H&Y 3 showed more significant improvement with promising clinically meaningful change in gait speed than PD patients in H&Y 2 and 4. Additionally, there are no complications, such as eye fatigue or dizziness while using the device.

Conclusion:

 The laser ankle bracelet showed the immediate effect in increasing gait speed, stride length and improving TUG in Parkinson with FOG. Further research would continue as home-based and community use.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/efficacy-of-the-ankle-bracelet-laser-to-improve-gait-in-parkinson-disease-pd/