Objective: To develop and validate the effectiveness of a “Virtual Gait Lab” system using virtual reality (VR) technology for provoking and evaluating gait disturbances in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients, with particular focus on freezing of gait (FOG).

Background: Gait impairment in PD is significantly influenced by environmental factors. Even patients who exhibit normal gait patterns in clinical settings may experience FOG and falls in confined spaces or doorways at home. This discrepancy presents challenges for the accurate clinical assessment of gait.

Method: We designed a virtual hallway (3 m length, 1 m width) using VR technology, presented through a head-mounted display (HMD), which can introduce environmental obstacles to provoke FOG. Five conditions were tested: obstacle-free (control), narrow (35cm), or wide (52cm) width each with either tidy or messy obstacles. Thirty patients with PD and 20 age-matched healthy controls completed three trials per condition. Using the HMD’s head tracking, we measured gait parameters and calculated “FOG scores” based on the frequency of gait hesitations.

Results: The PD group showed a significant reduction in gait velocity and an increase in task completion time compared to the control group across all conditions. Using clinician assessment as the gold standard, our system detected FOG with 86.8% sensitivity and 82.9% specificity. The agreement rate with severity assessment was 74%.

Conclusion: This study demonstrates the potential of the Virtual Gait Lab as a useful tool for evaluating gait disturbances in Parkinson’s disease, particularly for objective detection and severity assessment of FOG.

« Back to 2025 International Congress

MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/virtual-gait-lab-assessment-of-freezing-of-gait-in-parkinsons-disease-using-virtual-reality/