Hello hello, and thanks in advance for any help and/or advice you lovely and expert people may offer.

I have early onset Parkinson's disease. Very annoying, but there you are.

One of the most annoying symptoms is a resting tremor in the hands. I find that this can be alleviated to a degree by stimulation of the fingertips or the underside of the wrist. So if I were in a place or position where I felt I need to try to lessen the frequency of amplitude of the tremor, the dentist's chair for example, I would tap the inside of one wrist with the opposite hand, or touch my thumb to the pads of my fingers in turn. Seems to work for me, and a few other PD sufferers that I've met.

So, the obvious question that I've had in my head for a while is 'can this stimulation be done effectively and efficiently electronically?'. The wrist would seem to be an easier option than the fingertips...

Attempts have been made. Microsoft were involved in the Emma Watch, but there probably wasn't enough money to be made to make that commercially viable. I haven't heard anything more about it since early 2018. There is also this which was built to alleviate nausea, or more ideally, this, but it would need to be switchable rather than triggered by sound.

I've been sat infront of the puter all afternoon and am still not really any further ahead. Time to turn to the experts for a leg-up.

Currently I envisage a wristwatch style device which can trigger haptic or vibrational motors in the 'wristband' in a variety of patterns and /or sequences as desired. Ideally it should have enough (rechargeable) battery power to last a day if used intermittently, say 2-3 hrs total.

The inital test model can be as clunky and ugly as necessary, but where do I begin? Raspberry Pi pico and haptic motors? Espruino? Arduino?

Down the line perhaps accelerometers could be used to detect tremors and fire the vibrational motors accordingly?

How would the collective You initially approach this?

 

Welcome to AAC!

Have you investigated using TENS for PD?

 

Welcome to AAC!

Have you investigated using TENS for PD?

Hi, and thanks for the welcome.

With regard to TENS, no, I haven't tried it personally. I do recall reading a little about it, from memory getting the phasing right was a difficulty when using it to try and counteract tremor, but I haven't researched TENS in any depth.

We do have a small unit somewhere in the house that my partner used for back pain. I'll dig it out and see if it has any local effect.

 

The typical TENS device has pre-programmed patterns to it. The user can select from several options, and there's an intensity button to control how strong a muscle is stimulated. I know some of the smaller ones have enough power to trigger a reaction in a muscle and make it hurt like someone gave me a charliehorse. But if you're looking for a device that can be set to match the frequency of your tremors I don't think the TENS is going to score a 10 with you. You're best bet might be to have something custom built where you can vary the rate, frequency and intensity so you can negate the tremor. But it IS an interesting approach.

 

The typical TENS device has pre-programmed patterns to it.

I just got one from Ebay that has two different lead set and controls them independently. To replace an old one that stopped working. I paid under $30 if I remember right. The new one is rechargeable the old one used a 9V battery.

It has many different programmable pulses built in and is adjustable for strength of shock.

 

Thanks Tonyr and shortbus.

I will investigate the TENS option as a therapy (when we get our machine back from my girlfriend's mother!).

What I am really looking for in this instance is something more discreet and 'wearable' that might ultimately become this..



..with the vibrational/haptic motors in the bumps inside the band, and the top bit housing the battery and a controller board. For the purpose of interrupting the tremor/nerve signal, I think this would be enough (as described in my first post). I realise that the prototype will not be as slick as this, but that can be addressed as and when.

What I would like help with is more about where to start in order to design and build a controller board for the motors, and any factors that I should be aware of in getting the first attempt started.

 

You can buy these smart phone vibrator motors. They are 5mm diameter x 10mm length.

 

The new one is rechargeable the old one used a 9V battery.

The last few I've purchased operated from a CR2032 coin cell. Dirt cheap.

You can buy these smart phone vibrator motors. They are 5mm diameter x 10mm length.

View attachment 284053

Or if, like me, you have scrapped old cell phones - you can skipe one from there.

As for building the unit - I'd keep it as cheap as possible so that it can be determined what works and what doesn't. Once there's a winning design I can start work on miniaturizing it.

 

I think this is a very viable project that can be miniaturized. It will require some knowledge of embedded microcontroller design and application.

I see the following in a short list of components:

microcontroller
bluetooth transceiver
motor
sensor
battery
wristband

plus a remote controller

Edit: You can simplify the remote feature by using IR instead of bluetooth.

 

plus a remote controller

Was questioning the need for remote control, but after thinking for just a minute I realize the value of having a program on your cell phone from where you can manage the controls. Buttons on a wristband would be cumbersome and likely you'd have to cycle through all the settings. But an ap can have direct access to the programming.

This would increase the complexity of the device but I can see a benefit too. But once you know what works best you can simply build a "one size fits all" application; which is where building the prototype on a perf board and a few inconvenient wires can benefit the engineering and testing. Once you find a vibration that works at its optimum efficiency you don't really need to cycle through different programmings. But that's my opinion. Others may vary.

But then there's batteries and if chargeable - recharging capabilities.

 

Vibration to relieve tremors or spasticity works well and was the subject of the research of one of my PhD colleagues, though she was researching improving hand control during rehabilitation following a stroke and was using a bigger motor. IMHO, this is quite do-able in a watch-sized device with a smaller motor though the interface from watch back to wrist will need to be relatively low-compliance to get enough energy transfer to be useful. The other issue is finding the right 'buzz' as those smaller motors have a fairly small range of speeds they'll work over and tend to be at the higher frequencies whereas you probably need a lower one to get sufficient energy transfer so motor selection will be critical.