Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies
Date Submitted: Dec 17, 2024
Open Peer Review Period: Jan 10, 2025 - Mar 7, 2025
Date Accepted: Aug 25, 2025
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Feasibility and Preliminary Efficacy of The Ankle Bracelet Laser: A new portable device to improve walking in Parkinsonism patients, Randomized Cross-Over Control Pilot Trial.
ABSTRACT
Background:
Freezing of gait (FOG) is a common and debilitating symptom of parkinsonism. Although visual cues have proven efficacy in alleviating FOG, current visual cues are fixed, and mobile open-loop system may be too difficult to use in some patients, leading to equivocal results in improving gait performance.
Objective:
To assess the efficacy of an ankle bracelet laser, a new mobile visual cue with practical use, in improving gait performance in parkinsonism patients with FOG.
Methods:
A randomized controlled two-period crossover trial was conducted from June 15th, 2020 to October 1st, 2020 at Ramathibodi Hospital. Ten parkinsonism patients with FOG were enrolled in two conditions: walking with laser-off first and walking with laser-on first. Gait speed, the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test, stride length, and the locomotor rehabilitation index (LRI) were assessed twice in each trial with a 10-minute washout period.
Results:
The results showed favorable results of improvement in all parameters. Gait speed and stride length improved by 0.07 m/s (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.04–0.09; P < 0.001) and 0.17 m (95% CI: 0.11–0.23; P < 0.001), respectively, with laser-on. The TUG test duration was reduced by 7.69 s (95% CI: 2.82–12.55; P=0.002). The locomotor rehabilitation index (LRI) improved by 4.46% (95% CI: 2.56–6.36; P<0.001). When using the device, there were no adverse effects, such as dizziness or blurred vision.
Conclusions:
The ankle bracelet laser improved walking performance in parkinsonism patients with FOG immediately and might have the potential to provide cueing during daily life. Clinical Trial: TCTR20210511001
Citation
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