Wearable tech: Supporting limbs, easing Parkinson's

When Brinnan Tate was born three months premature with severe brain bleeding, doctors predicted he would never walk, talk or gaze into his mother's eyes.

They gave Channa Tate and her husband the option of pulling the plug.

After losing Brinnan's twin sister just three weeks earlier, the Elsmere couple looked at each other and agreed: "He's coming home."

Today, Tate is cooing, gurgling and shoving blinking balls in his mouth. The 9-month-old reaches to grasp rattles and attempts to stand without balancing on mom.

Apart from his family, Brinnan gets extra support from a striped onesie designed by University of Delaware researchers.

Called the PlaySkin Lift, the garment incorporates the technology of Spanx and a trunk brace into a lightweight and comfortable garment for children with physical disabilities.

"It has made a tremendous difference," says Channa Tate, who enrolled her son in the UD research study in September. "He is defying the odds."

The PlaySkin Lift is part of a burgeoning movement in clinical wearable technologies. Down the hall from the mobility lab at UD's STAR campus, researchers are fine-tuning a vibrating shoe that helps Parkinson's patients walk faster while maintaining their balance.

Beyond fitness trackers that record steps climbed, hours slept and resting heart rates, experts predict that wearables will eventually measure every part of human physiology, which could benefit long-term health.

Devices now in research and development range from a hand-sized stimulator for Alzheimer's patients, to a personal light tracker to help people with major depression, to a leg belt that delivers an electrical current to relieve chronic pain.

In the near future, we might see smart contact lenses to record blood glucose levels, smart diapers to detect developing kidney problems and mouth guards to analyze stress levels in saliva.

Already, global spending on mainstream wearable technology amounted to $14 billion last year, according to IDTechEx. The consulting firm projects $70 billion in spending by 2024.

Clinical wearable devices should surpass mainstream wearables in overall revenue by 2020, according to Lux Research.

And now, device manufacturers are beginning to realize that health consumers actually care about how the device looks, along with its functionality.

"Users don't want to wear stuff continuously that's ugly or not natural to put on every day," says Scott Snyder, a senior research fellow at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. "We're now at a turning point where the people coming in the game are the fashion guys."

Snyder, president of Mobiquity, a Boston-based mobile strategy and applications development firm, cited new partnerships like those between Tory Burch and Fitbit and Diane Von Furstenberg and Google.

With the price of some sensors dropping to $5 each and ready-made kits available to integrate with clothing, Snyder expects to see hundreds of fashion companies incorporating wearable technologies in the next two years.

Local pioneers

The PlaySkin Lift's technology was adapted from a conspicuous trunk brace, the Wilmington Robotic Exoskeleton, developed by Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children. The WREX's adjustable elastic bands and metal connectors help arms reach and move around the body.

The PlaySkin has been tweaked over the last year through direct feedback from children and their parents, who were able to incorporate the garment into their daily routine. A front zipper replaced frustrating snaps. A mesh fabric, found in Victoria's Secret lingerie, replaced a hot fleece lining.

Researchers at UD's Pediatric Mobility Lab and Design Studio want to create an affordable, fashionable alternative to bulky medical devices that make children feel different, says Martha Hall, senior designer and researcher in the mobility lab.

The garment is designed to benefit children with limited movement, such as infants born with arthrogryposis that affects their joints, Down syndrome or cerebral palsy.

"Clothing for people with disabilities is a relatively neglected area of fashion design," says Hall, who also teaches fashion and apparel studies at UD.

The PlaySkin Lift is still being tested and not yet available in stores. It consists of a breathable compressive fabric with two vinyl stripes running along the sides, resembling a race car driver suit.

But the stripes are actually tiny tunnels housing bundles of piano cables that are flexible, elastic and help support the arms against gravity. The inserts are easily swapped out, with more cables providing greater lift for larger arms.

The garment now allows children to explore and learn from their environments, aiding in important tasks such as eating, playing, writing and using the computer. Researchers are now studying air compression technology instead of cables to give patients more control on the go.

This spring, Hall will teach a new kidswear class that will pair UD fashion undergraduates with local children who need adaptive clothing. They will co-design an outfit that the children can take home.

Hall is currently recruiting about 10 children, from infants to 6-year-olds, to take part in the class. Her interdisciplinary lab is also looking for both adults and children who have special clothing needs to participate in ongoing research. The PlaySkin can be adapted for jackets and sweaters in fun patterns. One participant and Disney fan requested a design featuring Elsa, one of the princesses in "Frozen."

Brinnan Tate is part of an eight-month study to track the rehabilitative properties of the PlaySkin Lift. A UD postdoctoral researcher visits his home twice a month to observe his spontaneous movements and measure how he reacts to toys with different textures and shapes. Soon, his mother predicts, he'll be ready to roll around on the floor.

UD is a pioneer in creating fashion-forward medical garments, according to assistant physical therapy professor Michele Lobo, who works with Hall in the lab. Funded by private donors, the lab relies on four professors and 100 volunteers each semester.

Lobo's project, called SewBabySew, is part of an umbrella effort, GoBabyGo, which has developed harness systems to aid mobility and modified toy cars that provide alternatives to wheelchairs. A wheelchair can cost $30,000, Lobo says, while the ride-on cars will be available this spring for $500 each through wheelchair manufacturer Permobil.

Stepping out

Parkinson's robbed Ed Slygh of the ability to walk without fear.

Diagnosed in 2009, the Vietnam War veteran believes he developed the degenerative disorder of the nervous system after being exposed to Agent Orange during his military service. He now shuffles around with rounded shoulders.

Since testing a vibrating beach shoe developed at UD, the Lewes retiree is having an easier time navigating sharp turns and can take larger steps without freezing in place. While walking around the mall, he surprised himself by picking up his cane and twirling it.

"The most exciting thing for me is that it's not invasive," says Slygh, who admits that the shoe tickles a bit.

Nearly 1 million Americans live with Parkinson's disease. Actor Michael J. Fox's foundation has directed funding toward finding a cure. The foundation recently partnered with Intel Corp. on a device to help Parkinson's patients track symptoms.

Closer to home, UD researchers have spent the last few years developing a flexible, rubberized shoe to help individuals with Parkinson's walk steadier.

While a healthy person takes one step about every 1.15 seconds, individuals with Parkinson's can take 1.35 seconds per step. That might seem like a minuscule difference, but those longer steps slow down a person's gait.

Directing the UD research is Ingrid Pretzer-Aboff, an associate nursing professor at UD with 30 years of experience treating people with Parkinson's. Kyle Winfree, a postdoctoral researcher in biomechanics, built the shoe. Researchers selected a water shoe because it was inexpensive and came in standard sizes.

Operated by a microcomputer, the "shoe" is really a vibrating insole that can store data. It measures the duration of each step – when the heel strikes the ground and rolls forward onto the ball of the foot.

Participants from India and the U.S. tested the shoe twice a day at six-minute intervals for two weeks. They generally reported smoother walking, better balance and faster walking pace, Pretzer-Aboff says. These benefits were particularly pronounced for those who had advanced Parkinson's.

Those findings, gathered over three pilot studies, support earlier research by 19th-century French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot. Charcot found that people with poor motor control benefited from long train or carriage rides. He created a vibration chair as a form of treatment, but died before it could be tested.

So far, about 150 participants have tested the continuously vibrating shoe, called the PDShoe, and an earlier version that delivered step-synchronized vibrations.

Researchers are still trying to determine why the vibrations work so well. Is it because the muscle gets so excited from the vibration that it is more receptive to the signal from the brain telling it to move? Or does the vibration simply act as a tactile cue?

Whatever the mechanism, the shoe successfully bridges engineering and human health and boosts the self-esteem of the wearer, according to Pretzer-Aboff.

"Imagine if you got your feet back," she says.

Contact Margie Fishman at (302) 324-2882 or mfishman@delawareonline.com.

MORE INFO

To participate in ongoing apparel research at UD's Pediatric Mobility Lab and Design Studio, contact Martha Hall at mlucinda@udel.edu.

To learn more about the ride-on car and download a do-it-yourself manual, visit www.udel.edu/gobabygo.

To learn more about the PDShoe, visit gaitstudies.org/fpl.