Understanding Freezing of Gait in Parkinson’s disease
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding Freezing of Gait in Parkinson’s disease with wearable sensors.
IRAS ID
261912
Contact name
Irene Di Giulio
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King's College London
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative condition and 145,000 people are diagnosed each year in the UK (source Parkinsons.org.uk). Freezing of Gait (FOG) is a common symptom of PD. It is described as a individual’s inability to continue walking despite intending to do so.
FOG is not understood because it is very difficult to study. The number of FOG episodes is considerably reduced when an individual is in a clinical or research setting. The laboratory environment is often too controlled, and individuals by focusing on walking reduce the situations when FOG typically occurs. Without the possibility of recording FOG episodes effectively, we cannot understand their causes and their mechanisms, and we cannot help patients that are affected by this problem.
We need a way to accurately measure several FOG episodes. The solution is to test individuals outside the laboratory, in a less controlled community environment, and measure their gait with high accuracy. The fast development of new portable technologies makes this type of study now possible and desirable.
We plan to record community walking both indoors and outdoors, and quantify body mechanics, muscle activation, and the role of visual input during FOG episodes.
We will use non-invasive and portable sensors to record 3D body position (inertial sensor), muscle activation (electromyography integrated with inertial sensor for body position), and visual input (portable microcamera recording feet placement). This data will be used in a future project to develop a low-cost integrated wearable sensor that will allow patients to prevent or overcome a FOG episode.
REC name
London - Hampstead Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/LO/1276
Date of REC Opinion
31 Jul 2019
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion