Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi!
Parkinson's Disease causes hand tremors, which affects many people's day to day lives. Therefore, there have been many devices made such as the ARC pen or the GyroGlove to counter these tremors/vibrations with their own equal and opposite vibrations.

What if the technology to counter the vibrations were placed on the wrist? Would that still work to stabilize the hand, or not (as opposed to the gyroscope in the center of the hand in the GyroGlove)? Also, where do the hand tremors originate EXACTLY, or would it be possible to pinpoint a single location as to where it originates (I cannot seem to find it anywhere on the Internet)?



Thanks so much,
Alice

Hi Alice,

That's a great question and definitely worth exploring. I know something about nerve signal transmission and muscle movement, but nothing about PD specifically. Muscle contraction can be stimulated electrically through the skin and this may be a way to counteract the hand tremors if you could also have a device that could detect the tremor signal and generate an opposite signal to cancel it.

I did a search for 'electrical muscle stimulation parkinsons' and found a lot of hits. You can try it yourself and see if there's anything that sounds promising. Many of the articles have to do with electrical stimulation of neurons in the brain or spinal cord as a way to cancel the tremor signals: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 103413.htm

The new treatments sound quite promising but I don't know how much they have been tested on Parkinson's patients. With today's advanced electronic sensors, software and computers, I think developing a device to cure PD or at least minimize the tremors is highly possible.

Maybe you can be the one to pioneer this device and make it work!

Sybee