Patients Of Parkinson's Disease Can Walk Easier With Laser-Guiding Shoes

Advancement in technology has helped the medical field in combating many diseases, either by creating new treatments or by fine tuning invasive interventions.

One of the latest in such advancements is a laser-emitting shoes that help those suffering from Parkinson's disease to walk normally.

One of the symptoms of Parkinson's is "gait freezing," wherein a patient is unable to take the next step despite willing themselves to walk forward; this can cause them to lose balance and fall as the upper part of their bodies continue to move forward.

What has been observed during such a freeze is that the person is able to take the next step if there is a marker in front of them, like a floorboard or a crack in the sidewalk.

This is where the shoes developed by Dutch scientists from the University of Twente and Radboud University Medical Center come to the patient's rescue.

Each shoes has a laser projection device mounted on its toe; the device emits a laser beam which forms a red line about 18 inches ahead of the foot. The line works as a marker for the Parkinson's patient to step toward during a freeze.

The laser beam is emitted only when the shoes is poised for the next step and not in motion.

A study of 19 patients found that the shoes reduced the number of freezing cases by 46 percent with the use of these shoes. Patients under medication and those without medication were tested. The effect was more prominent in those patients who did not take their medication as they are the one who faced more difficulty in walking; improvement was also observed in patients who had been taking their medication.

The study published in the journal Neurology said that most of the patients were happy with the shoe.

According to a report in the Medical Express, researcher Murielle Ferraye, said, "Our tests were administered in a controlled lab setting with and without medication. Further research in their everyday environment is necessary. We plan on testing this using laser shoes that in the meantime came on the market.”

Ferraye said that ideally the shoes should emit beams only when the patient suffers a freeze, but it's difficult to pinpoint exactly when it occurs.

“Ideally, the laser should only be activated once the blockage is detected, but we’re not quite there yet. Freezing is a very complex phenomenon,” she said.

Parkinson’s disease is a condition where the nerve cells in the brain die due to lack of a chemical called dopamine. The symptoms of the disease include muscle rigidity, tremors and difficulty in speaking and walking. Once the disease is diagnosed, a patient can be helped to a certain limit through treatment but in general it is an incurable disease.