Emerald illuminations Tadhg Le Perff, 6, explores Silva Lumina – Lights of Growth, an exhibition by artist Tom Meskell at the National Botanic Gardens in Dublin. It is part of the First Fortnight festival, which aims to tackle mental health stigmas. Robo-

Sarah Knapton sCienCe editor

PARKINSON’S patients can walk smoothly again with wearable robotic suits that give a gentle push to the hips.

Harvard and Boston universities have developed a device that lengthens the stride, preventing “freezing”, in which a person suddenly loses the ability to move their feet.

Freezing is one of the most common and debilitating symptoms of Parkinson’s disease and often causes falls.

The robotic garment, which is worn around the hips and thighs, pushes the hips as the leg swings, helping the patient make a longer stride.

The team spent six months working with a 73-year-old man with Parkinson’s, who, despite having surgical and pharmacological treatments, suffered freezing episodes more than 10 times a day, causing him to fall frequently. But after switching the device on, the effect was instantaneous, eliminating freezing and allowing him to walk faster, further and more smoothly.

“We found that just a small amount of mechanical assistance from our soft robotic apparel delivered instantaneous effects and consistently improved walking across a range of conditions for the individual in our study,” said Conor Walsh, professor of engineering and applied sciences at Harvard.

The device uses cable-driven actuators and sensors worn around the waist and thighs while algorithms estimate the phase of the gait and generate assistance in tandem with muscle movement.

“Because we don’t really understand freezing, we don’t really know why this approach works so well,” said Terry Ellis, professor and physical therapy department chairman at Boston University.

“But this work suggests the potential benefits of a ‘bottom-up’ rather than ‘top-down’ solution to treating gait freezing.

“We see that restoring almost-normal biomechanics alters the peripheral dynamics of gait and may influence the central processing of gait control.”

The 73-year-old man, who wished to remain anonymous, said that until he tried the new device, freezing had prevented him from walking around his community and forced him to rely on a scooter to get around.

“The suit helps me take longer steps and when it is not active, I notice I drag my feet much more,” he said.

“It has really helped me, and I feel it is a positive step forward. It could help me to walk longer and maintain the quality of my life.”

About 153,000 people are living with Parkinson’s in Britain and there are currently no drugs to prevent the progression of the disease, although some experimental therapies are showing promise.

The main symptoms of the condition are tremors, slowness of movement and rigidity.

Robotic exosuits are being used for several conditions, including to help patients recover their mobility after a stroke.

The research was published in the journal

Breakthrough garment gives a gentle push to the hips, helping to overcome the problem of ‘freezing’